Bangalore :
An expert committee has given the go-ahead for the proposed 400-kV Mysore-Kodagu-Kozhikode power line passing through eco-sensitive forest zones. It said the power line can follow the original alignment, despite serious apprehensions expressed by environmentalists in Kodagu district.
Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday, Power Minister D K Shivakumar said the state government had constituted a three-member expert committee headed by R S Shivakumara Aradhya to examine the issue. The committee has submitted its report and has recommended the construction of the line on the route originally proposed by the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL)
He said the work on the double-circuit transmission line, which had secured forest clearance, was halted following objections raised by environmentalists and a few elected representatives from the region.The committee, in its recommendations, also suggested certain remedial measures to deal with environmental issues. This included regeneration of vegetation along the 3.93-km stretch in Dubare and Devamachi reserve forests.
It recommended working out a plan to mitigate elephant-human conflicts in coffee plantations, paddy fields and settlements in Kodagu district during the cutting of trees and construction of tower lines.
The remedial plan should be prepared and implemented by the Forest Department in consultation with experts as well as local stakeholders, with funding from the PGCIL, it said and suggested better compensation to paddy growers than what was proposed by the PGCIL.
The committee felt that about 6,000 trees have to be cut in a 12-km stretch of coffee plantations in Kodagu and another 2,247 trees in the forest stretch to build the proposed line. It acknowledged that the line passes through 4.5 km of reserve forest in Virajpet, Madikeri and Hunsur forest divisions, which fall within the buffer zone of the tiger reserve.
Various environmentalist organisations, including Coorg Wildlife Society, had strongly protested against the project fearing large-scale damage to forests.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Express News Service / August 28th, 2014
