Sharavathi Pumped Storage Project opposed at environmental public hearing

The residents of Sagar taluk, environmentalists, and politicians opposed the Sharavathi Pumped Storage Project at the environmental public hearing conducted by the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner Gurudatta Hegade on Tuesday. They urged Mr. Hegade to recommend to the Ministry of Environment and Forests against the project.

KPCL has proposed to generate 2,000 MW by spending ₹10,240 crore. It proposes to utilise the existing Gerusoppa and Talakalale reservoirs to generate power to meet the power requirement during peak hours.

Contents of DPR

The participants, however, took objection to holding the hearing without sharing the contents of the detailed project report (DPR) with them and not publishing the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report in Kannada.

Local people, politicians, and environmentalists participating in the public hearing.
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Several local people and environmentalists demanded that the hearing be cancelled even as it began, saying that the public had not been given access to the DPR. The officers of the KPCL and the Deputy Commissioner attempted to convince the public.

At one point, Vijay Kumar, KPCL Executive Engineer, stated that the purpose of the hearing was not to discuss the DPR, and this prompted the local people to raise their voices against him.

Mr. Kumar maintained that the contents of the DPR and the EIA report were accessible online to everyone. The local people, however, asked them why there had been no Kannada version of the reports.

Postpone meeting

Akhilesh Chipli, an environmentalist from Sagar, who has been opposing the project, urged the Deputy Commissioner to cancel the hearing and instruct the KPCL officials to share the EIA report in Kannada, reconvene the meeting, and possibly reschedule it for six months.

However, Mr. Hegade stated that the hearing could not be cancelled and that he would record the meeting’s proceedings and send the report to the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

At the beginning of the hearing, even as Mr. Kumar was explaining about the wildlife at the project site, the public alleged that the officers were hiding the fact that the project site was known for the lion-tailed macaque, a critically endangered species. Mr. Hegade intervened to pacify the audience.

Further, many people, already affected by the previous dam projects, stated that they had lost hope in the government and KPCL.

Darshan of Talakale village stated that his family was affected by the Linganmakki dam project in the 1960s and that they received hardly any compensation for the land they lost. “We are living about 500 metres from the project site. We are worried about the impact of the blasts to be conducted as part of the project,” he stated.

The Deputy Commissioner assured him that he would include those issues in his report.

Power supply

Former Minister Hartal Halappa alleged that the KPCL had remained silent on the forest and private lands required to supply power to the pump house and lay power lines to carry the power generated in the project. “To pump water from Gerusoppa to Talakalale, more than 2,000 MW of power is required. The KPCL has to ensure the power supply to the pump house by cutting trees. Similarly, once 2,000 MW is generated in the project, the KPCL has to lay fresh lines to carry it to Bengaluru. Again, hundreds of acres of land are required to complete the project,” he said.

Ananth Hegde Ashisar, environmentalist from Uttara Kannada, B.M. Kumaraswamy from Shivamogga, Veeresh from Chikkamagaluru and others opposed the project. There was no one to speak in support of it.