Bangalore, Dec 21 (Inditop.com) Local communities and environmentalists, protesting the Gundia hydel power project in the Western Ghats region of Sakleshpur in Karnataka’s Hassan district, Monday got support from the grand old man of India’s eco-activism, Sunderlal Bahuguna.
Bahuguna, 82, who is making a recce of Western Ghats, one of the world’s richest biodiversity hotspots, expressed his concern against the Gundia project, and cited the catastrophic effects the project would have on the eco-system and people of Gundia.
“Sunderlal Bahuguna has expressed his concern and protest against the Gundia project during his visit to Hassan. On Tuesday, he is to meet the local people and environmentalists to have an interaction against the Gundia project,” environment NGO Malenadu Janapara Horata Samiti president H.A. Kishor Kumar told Inditop on phone from Hassan, around 180 km from here.
“We feel his support to Gundia movement is very significant. It is very important to remember that at the age of 82 he has come to meet us and support our movement. His visit will definitely inspire many to work for environment protection,” he said.
Malenadu Janapara Horata Samiti and Bangalore-based Kenneth Anderson Nature Society (KANS), a wildlife and environment group, along with several other environment-related NGOs of the state are protesting the Gundia project.
The Gundia hydel power project, which has two generating units with a capacity of 200 MW each, will be built across the Gundia river. A tributary of the Kumaradhara, Gundia has its source in the Western Ghats near Kudremukh of Karnataka’s Chickmaglaur district and flows through the districts of Hassan and Dakshina Kannada.
The foundation stone for the project was laid at Yettinahole in the Western Ghats, about 18 km from Sakleshpur, in May this year by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa. The project is awaiting environmental clearance.
“A recipient of Right to Livelihood Award and Padmavibhushana registering his support against the Gundia hydel power project at age of 82 shows the seriousness of the issue. And such projects, if approved, could have catastrophic effects on the eco-system and people of Gundia will be the first one to get hit,” said Hari Somashekar, founder member and director of publicity and awareness of KANS.
“Already in an era of global warming and rise in prices of essential commodities due to food shortage, government should wake up and avoid these kinds of projects in the eco-sensitive zones of the Western Ghats, which are also the biggest carbon sinks in the world of reducing emission and global warming,” Somashekar added.
Enviromentalists say that if the project is implemented, about 700 hectares of land will be submerged, and hundreds of families will lose their farms and livelihood.
The environmentalists are accusing the state government of violating the norms by hastening the project work without getting clearance from the ministry of environment and forests.
