UDHAGAMANDALAM: The Sillahalla Ecological Social Protection Association (SESPA) has written to chief minister M K Stalin urging him to scrap the Silhalla pumped hydro-electric storage project considering the fragile ecology of the Nilgiris.
The association has written to the CM in the wake of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board calling for a public consultation meeting on the project. The consultation will be held in Kundha EB office on March 20.
The letter points out that the hydro project was opposed by Stalin when it was proposed by the then-chief minister, J Jayalalithaa, in 2013. Ironically, now, the govt is in the process of executing the project, it said.
The SESPA comprises residents of 25 villages including Denadu, Bembetti, Benagal, Kanneri, Thangadu, T Oranalli, Meekeri and Balacola.
The villagers say once the project is implemented, their livelihood will be affected, besides causing ecological damage to the hills.
“After you became the CM, we thought the project would be dropped. But to our surprise it has surfaced again with initiatives of execution,” the association wrote in the letter to Stalin.
The letter mentions that there are ten dams in the Nilgiris which are located within the forest areas and not disturbing the human habitats.
However, the proposed hydroelectric project aims at building two dams with a 10km tunnel and is going to be developed in the middle of the said 25 villages. Around 1,000 acres of farming land and 500 acres of forest land would likely be submerged thus it would affect the livelihood of at least 3,000 farmers in that area, says the petition.
Also, the farming land is of a ‘joint patta’ nature, and hence, farmers will not be able to get the compensation accordingly. Moreover, people who have given their land for road projects are yet to receive compensation in the district, adds the letter.
The letter written by SESPA president M Sivalingam says, “We oppose the project as the Nilgiris is located within the protected the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and environmentally sensitive area notified by the Western Ghats Conservation Panel”.
The petition suggests that the govt could utilize the existing ten dams for pumped hydroelectric projects.