HYDERABAD: Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore district is fast becoming the state's dumping yard for coal-based thermal plants, the Human Rights Forum (HRF) has alleged. In a press release here on Friday, the HRF stated that a total 26 thermal plants with a combined capacity of 27,015 MW were slated to come up in just two mandals - Muthukur and Chillakur - in the district that too within a stretch of just 20 km. Situated to the north and south of Krishnapatnam port, these plants were to be located either quite close to the sea or the Kandaleru river, the HRF said and added that this process was a recipe for a human and ecological disaster in the area.The HRF demanded a thorough cumulative environmental appraisal of all these thermal projects. Till such a comprehensive and integrated appraisal on the impact of these highly polluting projects on land, sea, livelihood, agriculture, ecology, water bodies and health of people was done, they must be put on hold, the HRF demanded.As of now, eight of these 26 projects had been accorded environmental clearance (EC) and the rest were at the proposal stage. The ECs were obtained on the basis of extremely flawed environmental impact assessment (EIA) reports, it alleged.The appraisal bodies had been clearing these projects one by one, without looking at the compound impact of all these projects taken together, HRF state general secretary VS Krishna and vice-president Dr A Subramanyam said in a release. It was shocking that so many coal-based plants with such a huge capacity had been given clearances with reckless abandon by the authorities concerned, they alleged. It was clear that both the state government and the environment ministry were presiding over a rubberstamp clearance regime as far as coal-based thermal plants were concerned, they alleged.One single coal-based power plant of 1,000 MW was in itself a serious threat to the environment, it said. To imagine 26 such plants as a cluster within such a small area was mindboggling. Given the nature of coal combustion, these projects would contaminate land, water and air in the vicinity with significant amounts of mercury, lead, zinc, cadmium, arsenic, chromium and even radioactive isotopes.Generating electricity on this scale would involve burning of about four lakh tonnes of coal every day and spewing of 1.3 lakh tonnes per day of toxic ash and 2,700 tonnes of sulphur into the environs.Moreover, running of all these plants would involve daily drawl of nearly 59 lakh cubic metres of water, mostly from the sea and the Kandaleru river and pumping of waste water back into these sources at higher temperatures. The HRF further stated that the negative consequences of this process on human and marine health and the ecology would be multiple. There had been a large-scale diversion of land and natural resources to these plants resulting in deprivation to not only farmers with land holding pattas but also those from the marginalised communities and members of various occupational classes.Ongoing construction in some of the projects had already resulted in a steep drop in fish and prawn catch for the Yanadis, a scheduled tribe, who eke out a living by fishing in the Buckingham canal. With the proposed thermal plants, there was a human and environmental disaster waiting to happen in the district, the HRF feared.The combined pollution onslaught of these plants would affect human health within a radius of 25 km and agriculture within a radius of 80 to 100 km. To highlight these issues, the HRF is organising a oneday "Prachara yatra" in Chillakuru mandal on January 22. The campaign will begin at 9 a.m. in Gummaladibba village and will cover 12 villages before culminating at Tikkavaram.
Comments
0 comment