Centre Halts 2 Mega Projects In Karnataka’s Western Ghats Over Environmental Concerns

Bengaluru: In a major move, the Centre has stalled two mega projects in the Western Ghats of Karnataka, which has been receiving huge opposition from the environmentalists for a long time.

While the ongoing Yetthinahole project, aiming to provide water to the parched lands of Southern tips of the State like Kolar, Chickaballapur, Tumkur and parts of Chitradurga is on receiving end, while the proposal to construct a pumped storage at Sharavati valley near Jog falls has been shot down for environmental reasons.

The ongoing Yetthinahole project near Sakaleshpur in Hassan district has completed the first phase of construction. However, during the audit, it was found that many unapproved works had been taken up during the first phase itself. The audit also pointed out that taking up the project in this eco-sensitive zone had triggered many landslides around the project area. Despite completing the first phase, the government could not pump any water from the project area.

Apart from this, there have been many violations of Environment Protection Act, 1980 in many places, where construction of 10.3 km of canal work has been taken up without prior permission. Though FIR had been filed against the Visveshwaraya Jala Nigam officials with this regard in 2019, satellite images had shown substantial work taken up even after that.

For construction of the canal, 2-28 meters of steep hills have been cleared, but the cementing has been done only up to 5.5 meters, which has created the possibility for landslides in the region. Around 42.3 lakh cubic meters of soil excavated for the project has been dumped in over 210 acres of forests. From the proposed another six kms work, over 10.77 lakh cubic meters of soil is also expected to be dumped inside the forests.

Meanwhile, the Union government has also rejected the proposal to construct a pumped storage facility for Sharavathi river hydro power project near Jog Falls. The Centre has pointed out that the Sharavathi valley was one of the most sensitive areas among the Western Ghat biodiversity region, being habitat for Lion Tailed Macaques, Tiger, Leopard, Bear, King Cobra, Giant Malbar Squirrel and other endangered species. The Sharavathi Wildlife Sanctuary has over 739 Lion Tailed Macaques and the project would further endanger them. The State government can not compensate for the habitat for these rare animals.

Besides, the area falls under Zone III of the seismic movement. The project requires construction of two reservoirs, 3.2 kms long tunnels and excavation up to 500 meters. The underground work requires blasting and drilling works also. This could potentially trigger the seismic movement in the region, the MoEF has warned.