Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Aug 8: In a letter addressed to Dakshina Kannada district deputy commissioner M Maheshwar Rao, Kudremukh Wildlife Foundation has expressed its serious misgivings about the Comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Plan prepared by the Institute for Catchment Studies and Environmental Management, Bangalore, for the first phase of Gundya Hydro Electrical Power Project. The foundation has asked him to declare the said report as fraudulent and unacceptable.

Foundation coordinator Niren Jain in the letter has alleged that the report was prepared with the specific intention of misleading the government and the public, for benefiting the promoters of the said project. He has objected to the part of the report which says that the project area is located at a distance of about 30 kms from Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, whereas the actual distance as per the topographic map of the Survey of India shows the distance as 9.5 kms. As such, the region falls under the 'ecologically sensitive zone' as per the Environment Protection Act, he cites.

Jain also has said that the project area of this proposed hydel power generation company contains of several endangered animals, birds as well as vegetation. Gundya is one of the most important reserve forest sites, identified as of irreplaceable value in the Western Ghats because of the bio-diversity it houses, he argues.

There is a need to conserve and nurture environment. It would therefore, be totally imprudent to allow vast areas to get submerged under water and cause huge loss to the wildlife and bio-diversity for setting up of such projects. He reiterated his belief, that the above study was not undertaken by professionals who have in-depth knowledge of zoological taxonomy. Based on these facts, the deputy commissioner has been requested to reject the report.