The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has accorded stage II approval for laying ‘sea water intake and outfall’ pipelines through a stretch of mangrove forest land in Morepannai village in Ramanathapuram district for the 1,600 MW Uppur supercritical thermal power plant.
With the Ministry having accorded stage I and stage II approvals, the Tamil Nadu government recently issued a G.O. diversifying the mangrove forest land, measuring 90 m by 60 m on the shores of Palk Bay, for non-forestry purposes, officials told The Hindu.
After the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) — the executive agency of the power plant — obtained necessary clearances and fulfilled the conditions for executing the project, Larsen and Toubro (L&T), which was awarded the ₹999-crore ‘sea water intake and outfall system’ project, started work on laying pipelines, up to 8 kms along the Palk Bay. The mangrove plants situated along the stretch were removed and replanted in the adjacent area, officials said.
As barges could not be operated on the shallow waters stretching up to 2 kms in the Palk Bay, L&T has laid a ‘makeshift road’ on the sea after filling the stretch with earth to facilitate the movement of rigs, heavy vehicles and cranes, officials said. Pile foundations were being dug for erecting spans and building a bridge-like structure 6 m above the sea water level for laying the pipelines for seawater intake and outfall, they added.
There would be a 24-m gap between two spans, and over 300 spans would come up in the sea, they said, claiming that no hindrance would be caused to the local fishermen. As the pipes would be laid 6 m above sea and a 24-m gap would be maintained between spans, fishermen would have no difficulty in navigating fishing vessels, they claimed.
The fishermen, however, expressed the apprehension that the laying of pipelines would pose a threat to their livelihood, and wanted the district administration to allay their fears. They have submitted petitions to Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao.
L&T has proposed the laying of two pipelines with 1.2-m diameter for 5 km for seawater intake and a single pipeline with 1.5-m diameter for 8 km for outfall, officials said. After completing the piling work, the company would remove the makeshift road, they added.