Basaveshwara mini-hydel project across Cauvery gets green signal

BENGALURU:  Although the Siddaramaiah government had rejected the Basaveshwara Mini-Hydel project (promoted by Pioneer Power Corporation Ltd) across the Cauvery twice, the Kumaraswamy government has recently cleared it which will generate 24.75 MW of additional power.The project, which was renamed twice to escape the >25 MW clause, will come up in Survey No 1 of Shivanasamudra, Kollegal taluk, Chamarajanagar district, adjacent to the existing 24.75 MW capacity Ranganathaswamy mini-hydel project and thereby, leading to a combined capacity of 49.5 MW.

The Siddaramaiah government had rejected it on various grounds with illegalities involving the project and being against the High Court directives. HC-appointed experts had said there are eight mini-hydel projects in the area and their impact on the river ecosystem has to be studied before anymore projects are permitted. Therefore, the proposal had been rejected.

On April 13, 2018, the regional empowered committee, Regional Office, Bengaluru, MoEF, too had rejected the proposal and had directed the recovery of unutilised forest land of 0.5 hectares from Pioneer Power Corporation Ltd and demarcation of boundaries of the Ranganathaswamy project. But, changing its stance, on request of the state government, the regional office of MoEF gave in principle (Stage-1)  approval for the project on July 31, 2018. The Forest Department then requested the company to submit the ‘project proposal’ for forest clearance.

In 2015, rejecting the project, the State Wildlife Board had stated, “It is located in the eco-sensitive zone of Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary and also the elephant home range and corridor. The project needs diversion of water and will obstruct natural water flow. Further, it will generate power only for 2-3 months and affect the movement of elephants. leopards, bears, etc. With Siddaramaiah eliciting whether the project was private or government, this being a private project, it was resolved to reject the proposal.” 

The HC-appointed Karnataka Elephant Task Force, in its 2012 report, had stated the penstocks and impounded water can create a significant obstacle to the movement of elephants. After this, the HC directed the state to review all clearances to various projects in elephant habitats and corridors in a time-bound manner.