The Hindu : Kerala News : Silent Valley management plan may go awry

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 15, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Silent Valley management plan may go awry

By G. Prabhakaran

PALAKKAD, JUNE 14. The proposed Pathrakadavu Hydro-electric Project in the Silent Valley forest area goes against the Management Plan (2002-2012) of the unique eco-system of the Silent Valley National Park.

The management plan of the Forest and Wildlife Department being implemented since 2002 had identified the areas of Nilikkal, Thathayengalam and Payyanadam, where the dam and the powerhouse for the project are beig planned, as the buffer zone of the national park.

On the buffer zone plan, the management plan said: "at present, the buffer area of the national park is under the administrative control of the surrounding forest Divisions. The buffer zone of this protected area extended to the new Amarambalam area under the Nilambur Forest Division and areas under the Mannarkkad Forest Division. The north and north-eastern portion of the park is buffered by the Mukkruthi National Park, Tamil Nadu, where as the north and north-eastern portion is surrounded by the Nilambur Forest Division areas.''

The southwest and the southern part, the southeast and the eastern part are surrounded by the Mannarkkad Forest Division. The Nilikkal and Thathayengalam areas, where the dam is proposed, come under the Mannarkkad Forest Division.

The management plan further said that "as per the State Wildlife Advisory Board meeting held on December 22, 1992, it was decided to manage the buffer area suitably and future management of the buffer area with the staff was to be left with Silent Valley National Park authorities. Based on the above recommendation, it is proposed to include present Mukkali Forest Station (Mannarkkad Forest Division), as a buffer zone of the Silent Valley National Park.''

The plan further says: "the long-term survival of this protected area depends on the effective management of this proposed buffer zone. The total area under this zone is 37,700 hectares. This area also falls within the buffer zone of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.''

But so far, the Forest Department has not implemented any of these important proposals.

According to the management plan, "the limited studies on the fauna of the Silent Valley reveal that its rich resources are rare and unique, rare because many species, which originally inhabited the entire belt of the Western Ghats, have been lost due to the destruction of their habitat by human beings or for other reasons. These faunal resources, however, are still available in the Silent Valley, because of the relatively little human intrusion. It is unique because what little has been collected and studied have already proved to be of immense scientific interest from the taxonomic, zoogeographic and ecological points of view.''

"A number of species, which were available in the Western Ghats about a century year ago and which had not been recorded subsequently, still exist in the Silent Valley.

They include insects, fishes, amphibians, reptiles and mammals. Type specimens of these described earlier by scientists, have been deposited in museums outside India. Even prototypes are not available in India for referral studies,'' the management plan said.

High rainfall

The Silent Valley rain forest receives one of the highest rainfalls in the country. Some of its areas receive as much as 7,500 mm rain annually.

The plan said that the "national park receives both southwest and northeast monsoons. The major showers, however, come from southwest monsoon, which starts during the first week of June. The heaviest rainfall is during June, July and August. There are occasional thunderstorms and rain during April and May.''

There is considerable variation in the intensity of rainfall across the area. There is also an increase in precipitation as one goes from the foothills to the high ridges.

Thiruvizhamkunnu, which lies in the foothill of the Silent Valley at an elevation of 75 m, receives only 2,717 mm of rainfall while hilly areas like Nilikkal (1,005 m) receives an annual rainfall of 4,543 mm, where as Sairandhri (990 m) - where the dam of the abandoned Silent Valley Hydel Project was proposed - receives 3,180 mm of rainfall, annually.

The first high hills, west of the Silent Valley, receive the heaviest rainfall, which progressively decreases as the clouds cross over successive ranges. A parallel valley in the east, Attappady Valley, receives about 2,300 mm to 2,800 mm of annual precipitation.

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