Expert Panel rejects Gundia power project

In a major setback to Karnataka Government’s ambitious Gundia power project, the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) has said that the project should not be permitted as its execution can cause significant environmental impact and biodiversity loss.

Karnataka Government laid foundation stone for Gundia power project in 2009 amidst sever protest. Later in the year, the central environment department team visited the place and denied approval to the project.

The Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) proposed to implement in three stages the project in the Gundia river basin in Hassan and Dakshina Kannada districts to generate 200 MW power. Dams will be built for this power project at Hongada Halla, Battekumeri and Ethina Halla villages.

According to the Madhav Gadgil led Western Ghatts Ecology Expert Panel, “the project would alter the hydrological regime of the river basin. This will result in drought like situation in the Kumaradhara river basin region.”

Although the Karnataka Power Corporation proposes to reduce the submergence area for the Gundia project by 80 per cent experts say that Hongada Halla, a village in Sakaleshpur taluq, will bear the brunt of destruction if this power project is implemented.

Over the past two decades these three villages are living with uncertainties that the power project can bring. The villagers, who have been waiting for project survey over the years, are afraid of utilizing their money on agriculture, thinking that land can go out of their hand.

“The well known pilgrimage city Subramanya and surrounding places will be short of water due to its diversion to the Bettakumari dam,” the Expert Panel says. “As it happened earlier in Sharavathi river basin, in this case also current perennial streams could become seasonal. The altered hydrology downstream could affect the livelihoods of local people.”

“The tunnel access to the main underground powerhouse is located in an area of primary forest cover. This location is not desirable as it would cause disturbance to one of the few remaining patches of primary evergreen forests of the Gundia basin,” said the report.

Gundia region represents biodiversity of Western Ghats. Of the plant species found in the basin, nearly 36 per cent are endemic to the Western Ghatts, while 87 per cent of amphibians and 41 per cent of fishes are similarly endemic to the Western Ghats.

“Though KPCL says 1000 hectare area will drown, in reality 12-14 villages will drown under water for this project. We are fighting for this cause from last six years and project will devastate entire Western Ghatts which are rich in flora and fauna,” says Kesari Haravoo, a member of ‘Malenadu Janapara Horata Samithi’ and well known film maker who is currently making a short film on Gundia project and its effects.