Chairman of the High Power Committee (HPC) for the implementation of Sabarimala Master Plan S. Sirijagan, accompanied by officials of the Travancore Devaswom Board and the Forest Department, has visited the Kunnar weir in the Sabarimala forest, exploring the possibility of augmenting its storage capacity.
Mr. Sirijagan told The Hindu that he would submit a detailed report on his findings and suggestions to the Kerala High Court soon. The 3.5-metre heigh Kunnar weir with a capacity to store 50 lakh litres of water is presently catering to the water needs of Sabarimala Sannidhanam. The HPC had decided to augment its storage capacity by 40 lakh litres by increasing its height by 2.5 metres to address the drinking water problem during the pilgrimage season.
TDB Chief Engineer V. Sankaran Potti told The Hindu that experts had opined that the capacity augmentation would not necessitate any tree felling. Instead, it would be beneficial to the wild fauna and flora too during summer months, he said.
But, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFs) had denied environment clearance for the HPC proposal following certain objections raised by the Forest Department.
The Kerala High Court too had stressed the need for capacity augmentation of the weir in view of the acute drinking water shortage at Sabarimala in 2014.
Meanwhile, an expert team of the Centre for Earth Science Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, had given technical clearance for the capacity augmentation.
The 39th meeting of the National Board of Wildlife (NWBL) in New Delhi on August 23, 2016, had agreed to recommend the HPC proposal to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, for the mandatory clearance, subject to receipt of comments from the National Tiger Conservation Authority. But, the project remains a non-starter due to the objection raised by the authority.
The HPC is planning to take up the issue once again with the Union Ministry.
