UNDER THREAT: A view of the forest at Kadmane which faces possible destruction because of the construction of a mini-hydroelectric project there.

MANGALORE: Conservationists and environmental activists have sounded the alarm on the large-scale destruction of forests expected to take place in the Western Ghats following the Government's decision to launch 61 mini-hydroelectric projects in the region.

The Western Ghats Forum for Conservation of Natural Ecosystems (WG-FORCE), Mangalore, headed by Niren Jain, and "Arohana", an organisation dedicated to mountaineering and adventure, headed by G.N. Ashokavardhana, have called for an immediate halt to all projects in the Western Ghats.

In a background paper prepared by Mr. Jain and Mr. Ashokavardhana, it is stated that the State Government proposed to establish 258 mini-hydroelectric projects in the State, of which 61 projects will be situated in the dense forests of the Western Ghats. The projects have been entrusted to private companies by the Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd. of the State Government.

Both organisations conducted a case study of the reserve forest in the Shiradi Ghats at Kempholey, which is one of the major tributaries of the Nethravathi river, and found that irreparable damage could be caused to the forests by one such project that has already been commissioned.

Three major roads have been constructed in the Kempholey valley. A 70-foot-high concrete dam has been built across the valley to store water during the monsoon. The natural aquatic ecosystem has been severely disturbed because the stream's bed was cleared to lay a 12-foot-diameter pipeline connecting the dam and the turbine downstream. Forests have been cleared to set up the powerhouse, surge tank, pressure shaft, penstock, transformers and other infrastructure. Several kilometres of evergreen rainforests have been cleared to lay transmission lines to feed the main electricity grid, according to the study.

While the Kempholey project was already operational, construction began on several other projects such as the one at Kadmane, owing to which several trees in different regions in the Western Ghats were felled, the paper said. It said that the National Wildlife Action Plan 2002-2016 had laid down strict guidelines for the protection of landscapes around Wildlife Reserves.

According to the plan, "Lands falling within 10 km of the boundaries of national parks and sanctuaries should be notified as eco-fragile zones." Some of the sites proposed for the mini-hydel projects, such as Charmadi, Kudlu Tirtha, Malahalli, Addahole, Lingadahole and Iruppu, were located within a 10-km radius of wildlife reserves, it added.

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