Thrissur: The proposed Athirappally hydel power project costing Rs 1,800 crore will help the middlemen swindle money, actor Sreenivasan has said. He was speaking at a meeting organized by the DCC to express solidarity with the tribals at Athirappally forest on Friday. He said that no intelligent persons could approve of such a hydel project which could not address even one percent of the power needs of the state.
“While countries like Bhutan raised the area of forest cover from 60 per cent to 70 to tackle issues of carbon emission, our leaders say the destruction of Athirappally forest will not make any difference,” he told the meeting held at Vettilappara close to Vazhachal Waterfalls near the location of the proposed dam. He refuted the claim of those who say that a unit of tidal power would cost only 50 paisa in Athirappally and that solar power will cost Rs 6.5.
“I don’t know on what basis such claims are made. Before destroying more than 100 hectares of forest in Athirappally, the government should provide solar power to homes by spending Rs 1,800 crore which is the estimated cost for the hydel project,” he noted. Tribal activist and head of the Vazhachal tribal settlement V.K. Geetha said that the tribal committee will oppose the project. Environmentalist S.P. Ravi, DCC president T.N. Prathapan, MLA Anil Akkara, party leaders Joseph Tajet, K.P. Viswnathan, T.V. Chandramohan, Jose Vallur, I.P. Paul among others attended the meeting.
