THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Power minister Kadakampally Surendran has toned down his rhetoric on Athirappilly Power Project. A day after he said that the 163-MW hydel project was crucial for the state’s development, the power minister said that the LDF government was not hell-bent on implementing neither the Athirappilly project nor any other big projects.
“Ultimately, everything is for people. We will not go after a project if the people are not keen on it,” the minister said at a meet the press organised at the Press Club here on Tuesday.
Giving a clear indication that he had factored in CPI’s objection to the project, Mr Surendran said: “We will move ahead only after evolving a consensus on the issue.” Nonetheless, the minister felt that mega projects were the need of the hour. “Annual demand increases by 6 per cent, but there has been no proportionate increase in power generation. When capacity should have been augmented by 1200 MW, the state has been able to manage only 34 MW,” Mr Surendran said.
Most of the big projects, he said, were stalled owing to silly reasons. The minister said that there were huge transmission constraints. “Even when there was plenty of power, we were not able to bring it to the state. As a consequence, KSEB was forced to clamp power restrictions in various parts of the state,” he said.
During 2006-2011, when LDF was in power, 94 substations were completed, Mr Surendran said. “In the last five years, UDF government managed to complete only 35.” He said that the 18-km Edamon-Kochi stretch of the Thirunelveli-Kochi-Madakkathara 400 kv line had come to a standstill at former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s constituency (Puthupally).
The stretch has to be completed for the state to secure power from Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. “We will soon initiate talks with Mr Chandy to resolve the issue,” the minister said. Mr Surendran also warned that the state should brace for some power troubles during monsoon. “The pre-monsoon maintenance was not carried out this time because of elections,” he said.
