Yashodhar Bangera
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)
Mangalore, Apr 29: At a time when every political leader of some relevance in the region is crying hoarse that he or she would not allow Niddodi thermal power project near here to come up because of its disastrous impact on ecology, environment and quality of life alike, it has now been revealed that Karnataka chief minister(CM), Siddaramaiah, had written a letter on June 24 last, urging union minister for state for power, Jyotiraditya Scindia, to execute this project at the earliest.
In the letter, copy of which was procured through Right to Information Act, Siddaramaiah had urged the government to do everything for building and commissioning this ultra mega power project because of increasing demand for electricity in Karnataka, and non-existence of any central government power projects in the state.
The letter pledges all necessary support from the government, and asks the minister to direct the Central Electricity Authority to take needy steps on the issue, and to take further follow up action as may be necessary.
In his reply dated August 8, 2013, Scindia said that the officials of the Central Electricity Authority had visited Niddodi for the purpose, and that the authority had told him that a report had been submitted in this connection on June 19. He said that issues raised during the visit of Niddodi on May 17 had been discussed in a meeting held in the presence of chief secretary (energy) and other representatives of Karnataka government. He had asked the CM to direct the concerned officials to take further steps as may be necessary for early execution of the project.
It has come to light that officials of Power Corporation of Karnataka Ltd had considered Niddodi, Mudipu, and Paladka before finalizing Niddodi for the project. The project will require 285 acres of private land and 160 acres of government land in Niddodi, 343 acres of private land and 123 acres of government land in Tenka Mijar, and 406 acres of private land and 405 acres of government land in Badaga Mijar village.
Local MLA, Abhaychandra Jain, who had been in the opposition when there was a hue and cry over the proposed project four months before the new government in which he is a minister was sworn in, had announced his determination not to allow the power project to come up at Niddodi. In addition to Jain, MP, Nalin Kumar Kateel, Congress candidate for Lok Sabha, Janardhan Poojary, and others had spelt out their strong stand on these lines. It would be interesting to see whether these leaders would be able to stick to their promises and block this project from coming up at Niddodi.