New dam proposal in troubled waters

It seems Kerala’s proposal for a new dam at Mullaiperiyar will not be realised anywhere in the near future.

The Forest Department has turned down a request from the Irrigation Department seeking permission for carrying out Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), for the second time.

Lackadaisical attitude by the officials coupled with technical reasons have been delaying the EIA for the proposed new dam.

Repeated attempts by the Irrigation Department to obtain clearance for the EIA have turned futile.

It was more than a month back that the Irrigation Department first filed a request under the Forest Conservation Act, before the Field Director Periyar, seeking permission to carry out the EIA.

However, the request was returned as permission under the Forest Conservation Act was not needed for an EIA study.

Following which another request was submitted seeking permission from the State Wildlife Board. However, the second request was also returned last week, due to technical reasons.

“The request was not submitted in the correct format. There’s a prescribed form in which the request should be submitted. Also it should be signed properly. The Deputy Director PTR, who is the custodian of the park and the engineer should sign. Only then the request can be forwarded. Last week we sent back the request. Once we get the request in the correct format, we’ll forward it to the higher ups,” said K V Subrahmaniam, Field Director Periyar. The state government has already finalised an agency — Pragathy from Hyderabad — for carrying out the EIA. However, no agreement has been made.

“The environmental study will be for a 10 km radius around the proposed site for the dam. It was about a month back that the second request was submitted before the Forest Department,” said sources in the Irrigation Dept. The Irrigation Department should get clearances from four agencies for conducting the EIA through the forest.