Meera Bhardwaj:
Sharavathi Pumped Storage Project (PSP) is India’s most controversial hydro-power project since Independence. The location of the Sharavathi PSP inside the Sharavathi Valley LTM Sanctuary, a protected area (PA) and in the World’s Hottest Biodiversity Hotspot, the Western Ghats, has shocked activists, experts, forest officials, environmentalists and of course, residents of Shivamogga and Uttar Kannda districts.
With the country facing unprecedented climatic events, extreme rainfall, floods, landslides in the ecologically fragile Himalayan states of HP, Uttarakhand and J & K and even the plains of Punjab and Delhi and the desert state of Rajasthan, it becomes imperative on the part of Karnataka Govt to take a serious relook at the Sharavathi PSP given the huge ecological, social & economic consequences.
POLITICAL COMPULSIONS?
The budget outlay for the Sharavathi PSP is now Rs 10,250 crore and may increase further. Now what are the political compulsions for the Siddaramaiah led Congress-govt to take up such an economically and ecologically disastrous project in the heart of Western Ghats?
Is there any pressure from the Central govt for the implementation of this project? Why is Jairam Ramesh, former Central Environment Minister of the Congress Party who hails from the Malnad region keeping silent on this disastrous project? Sources in the Vidhana Soudha say even the chief minister and some Congress leaders are not in favor of this project due to its huge ecological and economic consequences. Two senior leaders and ministers have been pushing the project and coming out with daily statements claiming all approvals have been received be it wildlife, forest or environmental.
A CONTROVERSIAL PROJECT
The way the tender process was hurried and awarded to MEIL wherein the engineering giant L & T lodged a case on the short tendering process but lost the legal battle in March 2024 – raises many curious questions. Even before any approvals have been received from the MoEFCC, the project proponent – Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL) went ahead with the process.
Further, there is need for accountability on the part of Karnataka Forest Department who are the custodians of the state’s forests, environment and its wildlife. They should not just leave such important and complex decisions to the political masters and that too in a functioning democracy. There are ways and means to bring in checks and balances by giving the correct advisory for such a horrendous project inside a protected area and ESZ.
IGNORING CONGRESS ECO-LEGACY
Way back in 1970s, late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who was responsible for the country getting its world’s best laws on wildlife and forests had rejected the Silent Valley Hydro-electric Project lock, stock and barrel on the advice of experts and environmentalists.
Why is Rahul Gandhi keeping silent when they are making big noise about destructive projects in other states? Maybe, because they are not in power!
INDIRA GANDHI’S LEGACY
His father, late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who was a hardcore environmentalist and aware of the serious consequences of industrialization on nature was in fact, responsible for bringing the Environmental Protection Act in 1986.
During his tenure as chairman of the Planning Commission, Rajiv Gandhi never approved the Tehri Dam project which is now causing severe landslides, dam induced seismicity, biodiversity destruction & alteration of the natural flow of river.
STEAM ROLLING THE PSP
In this background, it is indeed shocking and surprising how a Congress govt has been pushing this project, literally steamrolling the 2000 MW Sharavathi Pumped Storage Project amidst clarion calls for stopping the Environmental Public Hearing Meeting on September 16 being held at KPCL Officers Recreation Club, Kargal post, Sagar taluk, Shivamogga and another meeting on September 18th in Uttar Kannada.
Even as opposition, agitation and activism brews in both Shivamogga, Uttar Kannada and Bengaluru districts of Karnataka, people and activists have called for the rejection of the EIA as they say it has been a “total fraud committed on the state.” The west flowing Sharavathi River is just 128-km-long and out of it, only 14 kms free flowing while the rest 114 kms has many small hydel, hydropower projects.
SHARAVATHI PUMPED STORAGE PROJECT
The concept of Pumped Storage Project is very simple but such a project is a money and power guzzler and ecologically unsustainable. Under the proposed 2000 MW Sharavathi PSP which is yet to get forest, wildlife, environmental clearances:
- The Sharavathi waters will flow from Talakalale (upper dam at 1732 feet above sea level) to Gersoppa (lower dam at 276 feet above sea level) through tunnels built in the heavily forested villages of Begodi, Marathi Keri, Heni (where farmers will lose all their farming lands).
- However, these waters will be pumped back from Gersoppa (lower dam) to Talakalale (upper dam) during off-peak hours using the generated power.
- And then again, the waters will flow back from Talakalale to Gersoppa – so, once again generate hydro-power during peak hours for consumers in faraway Bengaluru.
- The electricity required to pump water from a lower to an upper dam will be 25% more than the power generated from the same quantity of water stored in the upper dam. Therefore, the cost to benefit ratio will be less than one.
- As per 2017 pre-feasibility report, if 12000 MWh of power is generated from Sharavathi PSP, then 14,833 MWh power is required to pump water from lower to upper dam.
- No new dams will be built but other facilities like 15-km-underground concrete tunnels, underground pump houses with 8 generating units, 8 more turbines of 250 MW each will be built.
- There are no details available on the “forest land” required for evacuation of the generated hydroelectricity to the power grid. And how many more trees have to be felled for transmission lines, only God knows!
WHAT’S WRONG WITH SHARAVATHI PSP?
Lets’ list out the main reasons for opposition to this project from every section of the society:
THE MAIN CONTENTION:
- Most secretive, hidden PSP- hydro-electric project
- Nobody has seen the DPR, not even the KFD
- Associated DPR kept away from public
- Lot of confusion regarding “loss of forest extent, wildlife”
- Till date, KPCL not come clear with project details
- Geo-technical survey done during Covid Period
- Survey done using heavy machinery during Monsoons
- PSP are generally not feasible or desirable inside protected areas due to: significant environmental impacts, including habitat destruction, damage to hydrology, and threats to biodiversity.
- The necessity of PSP projects in Western Ghats has not been critically evaluated against the potential environmental, economic and social costs.
- Highly Eco-damaging and so it outweighs the so-called grid benefits to the state.
- PSP causes significant changes to natural landscape
- Massive Habitat and Biodiversity loss.
- Daily fluctuation of water levels in the two reservoirs, necessary for PSP operations can severely impact fish, aquatic flora, and other fauna, local livelihood.
- The operation of the Sharavathi PSP can alter the natural hydrology of the surrounding areas in both the districts.
- Sharavathi PSP is a very significant threat to the critically endangered Lion Tailed Macaques with more than 30-40 groups being arboreal residents of the Sharavathi Valley LTM Sanctuary.
- Sharavathi Sanctuary is the one and only habitat in the world for being a contiguous habitat for less than 800 LTM.
- PSP is a threat to the region’s biodiversity and watershed;
- It will result in increased landslide risk due to unstable slopes and blasting;
- The PSP will result in reduced carbon sink capacity from forest loss;
- There will be gradual disruption of natural water flow, impacting downstream communities especially farmers.
- The PSP will become a potential for increased human activity, illegal logging, and poaching/hunting of wildlife.
- The Sharavathi PSP also overlooks less impactful alternatives like Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) which will provide similar benefits without such extensive and massive ecological damage.
DETAILS OF ECOLOGICAL LOSS
Ecological & Biodiversity Concerns
- Forest Loss and Habitat Destruction:
The project requires clearing over 15,000 trees for building a road and extensive forest lands of more than 350 acres in the core area of the Sharavathi Valley LTM Sanctuary and its ESZ.
- Impact on Endangered Species:
This deforestation threatens the habitat and the very movement of rare, arboreal species, particularly the flagship species of LTM and the Great Indian Hornbill. LTM do not come to ground; they swing from one tree canopy to another.
- Threat to Myristica Swamps
These swamps are a vital source of water in the Western Ghats and the PSP construction may impact these critically important ancient forests, which are home to several rare and endangered species.
ENVIRONMENTAL & CLIMATE CONCERNS
- Hydrological Disruptions:
Altering the natural water flows of the Sharavathi River can affect aquatic ecosystems and downstream communities.
- Reduced Carbon Sink:
Forest clearance diminishes the area’s capacity to absorb CO2, increasing carbon emissions and hindering climate change mitigation efforts.
- Increased Sedimentation:
Soil erosion and sedimentation from construction can degrade water quality in reservoirs.
GEOLOGICAL & OTHER RISKS
- Landslide Risk:
The construction of tunnels, roads, and other infrastructure in the steep, fragile slopes of the Western Ghats can destabilize geological formations, increasing landslide risks.
- Increased Human Activity:
The project brings more roads, houses, quarters, shops, hotels and people into ecologically fragile zones, raising the risk of further encroachments, illegal logging, and poaching.
PROJECT FEASIBILITY & ALTERNATIVES
- High Energy Consumption:
A significant disadvantage of pumped storage is that it consumes more energy (about 25% more) to pump water upstream than it generates from the same water.
- Alternative Technologies Ignored:
The project proposal has been criticized for not seriously considering less ecologically damaging alternatives like Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) which are a viable and widely used solution for peak demand issues.
If PSP are really required for usage of renewable energy like wind and solar in the future, then the location of such projects should never be inside sanctuaries, national parks or tiger reserves or for that matter in ecologically sensitive areas of Western Ghats which is the source and birthplace of our river systems, unique biodiversity, endemic and rare species and primary forests in Karnataka. Lets’ hope better sense prevails and the project is dropped once for all as per continuing demands by activists and citizens.
(PHOTO CREDIT: ALL PICTURES BY VIJAY NISHANT IN SAGAR TALUK EXCEPT LTM & LANDSLIDE)