Plea to grant clearance for Athirappilly project

Electricity Minister A.K. Balan has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene with the Ministry of Environment and Forests to get clearance for Kerala's long-pending proposal to set up a hydroelectric project at Athirappilly in Thrissur district.

Mr. Balan made this request in a fax message sent to the Prime Minister on Friday. In a press release, he said he had also sent fax messages to Union Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde; Minister for Environment and Forests A. Raja; and Defence Minister A.K. Antony; describing the significance of this 270-MW project to Kerala. The State been trying to set up this project for more than 10 years and "had even won all the necessary clearances."

However, media reports from New Delhi now suggest that an expert committee of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests had held back the environmental clearance, Mr. Balan said.

He said the State had got reputed agencies to do all the studies relating to the environmental and resettlement of people recommended by the courts and the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. These studies have all said that the project will have no adverse environmental or social impact, he said.

(The Hindu,24^th February, 2007)