Udupi: The Adani Group’s plans to expand the Udupi Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) and up its generation has left environmental activists here fuming.
The government had set up the coal-based 1200 MW thermal power plant near Padubidri in Udupi district a few years ago in the face of public protest.
Since then opposition to the plant has only grown as people here believe it has polluted their water , damaged their crops and is causing them health problems like skin allergies.
Not surprisingly, the state government’s decision at the recent global investors’ meet to up UPCL generation from the existing 1,200 MW to 2,800 MW has left many locals upset.
“We have been repeatedly saying the plant was set up illegally without proper permission and in violation of various norms. It does not have permission from the panchayat, which is a basic requirement. How can the government do business with a company that has been set up illegally? And how can it now allow it to expand?” demands activist and Horata Samithi president, Vijaykumar Hegde.
Adding to it he said,“We have always opposed the plant. But since it was already set up people asked the management to convert into a gas- based plant and also install a desalination unit. They also wanted assurance that it would not be expanded. But none of this has been done.”
Mr Hegde says he will now write to the UPCL management and the government demanding an explanation as there are about 34 cases pending in the Supreme Court and before the Green Tribunal against the plant.
“If the Janata Dal government gave permission for the plant, it was started during BJP rule and now the Congress is supporting its expansion,” he rues.
