| News |
||||
|
By The
Sunday Times News Desk
The Kotmale Hydro Power Project caught Cabinet approval
has been given for the project. But many environmental concerns
raised by critiques have not been addressed leaving room for the
Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) to portray the project as an environmental
nightmare. The CWC report
known to have been prepared by environmental experts throws cold
water on the proposed project which is intended to generate 150
Mw (531 Gwh) to the National Grid in about five years. It says seven
beautiful waterfalls will be endangered while the impact on thedownstream
water uses has apparently not been considered. Besides these problems
the CWC is also angry that the project is being pushed through in
its strongholds of Talawakele and surrounding areas without proper
consultations or the consent of the party. So the party
organised a massive show of strength last Sunday with the mainattraction
being the country's top Buddhist prelate, the Malwatte Mahanayake,
who joined the protest campaign (See separate story for his comments). The CWC is
expressing concern that the Environmental Ministry also had approvedthe
project though serious concerns had been raised by independent environmental
and the scientific groups when the EIA was being done. It said the
Central Environmental Authority had recommended that alternative
projectsbe looked into but it was ignored. The CWC said
one optional project was rejected on the basis of the presence ofCrystalline
Limestone band and associated landslides. But those matters had
not been considered in the geological evaluation report on Upper
Kotmale. It warned that water leaks and other dangers that erupted
in the Samanalawewa project might recur in Kotmale. But the official
report had ignored or purposely overlooked these. "The EIA
assumption that there is no water usage downstream of St. Clair-one
of the water falls which would be affected cannot be accepted and
no quantitativeassessment has been done in support of the argument,"
the CWC report said. The fears that
Kotmale Oya will run dry particularly during the dry season, theclimatic
changes which could affect tea plantations and vegetable cultivation
thus affecting the country's economy and the impact on fauna and
flora are among the other concerns in the report. It says the
issue whether the surrounding mountains could bear the pressure
of thewater was another concern which has gone unanswered in the
reports by the engineers. The CWC which
has vowed to continue its battle against the proposed project saysthat
the CEB assertion that there is no environmental impact is not supported
by new technical evidence. The issue has
turned into a political battle, after Power and Energy Minister,
Karu Jayasuriya's son in law, Naveen Dissanayake-Deputy Plantations
Minister entered the fray by calling on Mr. Thondaman to resign
from the cabinet if he was going against the cabinet decision on
the project. When the dispute
over Kotmale first emerged earlier this year Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe appointed an experts committee which recommended
that the go ahead be given for the project with effective safeguards
to prevent environmental damage.(See separate story on CEB assurances). One report said the Japanese Embassy had warned that funds might be withdrawn if the government did not take a decision to go ahead with the project. But an embassy official on Friday declined to confirm or deny this report.
Dangerous
power games with nature Green party leader Piyal Parakrama said the CEA had twice rejected the project and he wondered how it had now approved it without obtaining new data from experts. He said the project's main areas Talawakele and Niyangangdora were known to be prone to landslides and had a high soil erosion rate while and could be a danger. Environmental
Education Society leader Jagath Gunawardena, a widely respected
environmentalist also expressed deep concern for the well being
of indigenous creatures and plants of the area. He said their
existance depended upon an environment created by the surrounding
waterfalls termed the 'Spray Zone'. He warned that although there
have been promises to let out water for 10 minutes every hour, the
animals and reptiles may not be able to hold up for 50 minutes of
dryness and would surely perish. Mr. Gunawardena
also referred to another important aspect 'flash floods'-caused
by, heavy rainfall that would force the flood gates to be opened
suddenly, with little or no warning. "This
would invariably result in the washing away of uninformed people
and animals, who obviously don't heed signs. Likewise the 'drying
up' of the water falls and rivers around would also be a serious
threat to the environment," he said. Mr. Gunawardena
said the safety of the environment must be closely connected to
an efficient electricity supply. Mr. Gunawardena said he believed there was a need to diversify the electricity generating options. Instead of substituting hydro power with something like coal, which would depend on importing resources and adding to our heavy debt rate, he suggested using the country's resources like solar or wind power and being independent. He said that although installation costs of these substitute energies were high, on the long run, they would be much more cost effective and practical. However, he
pointed out that since the Emergency Power Supply Bill was passed
last year, nothing could be done now on a legal basis. Hemantha Vithange,
Executive Director of the Environmental Foundation said he had questions
on the economic feasibility of the project. "It will be carried
out on a 1:1 cost benefit ratio thus, if the plant is unable to
generate the total capacity needed to cover the costs, then the
project would be running at a net loss," he said. Mr. Vithanage said no response had been given to his query regarding the release of water from the water falls. "We have suggested an emergency gate, for water to be let out to the falls if necessary. But it has not been provided for," he complained. |
||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
The
Ven. Rambukwelle Sri Vipassi Mahanayake Thera of the Malwatte
Chapter who joined CWC leader on a Thalawakele stage last
Sunday to protest against Kotmale, said he had little faith
in promises and assurances given by the authorities.
