The Hindu
Udupi, Apr 28: Vijaykumar Hegde, president of the executive committee of Nagarjuna Virodhi Horata Samiti, said on Monday that the 1,015-MW coal-based thermal power project of the Udupi Power Corporation Ltd at Yellur village would lead to a series of environmental problems.
Mr. Hegde told presspersons that the thermal power project at Yellur had not obtained permission from the gram panchayat and other authorities. Hence, the work at the project site should be stopped immediately.
The advantages and disadvantages of the power project should be discussed. If the scientists and experts cleared all the doubts raised by the samiti about the impact of the project, then it would stop opposing it, he said.
The project would require a 1,000-feet high chimney. When such a chimney starts emitting fly-ash, the aeroplanes flying to and fro the Bajpe airport at Mangalore would get blocked in a 30-km radius. This could also lead to aeroplane accidents, he said.
The power plant would discharge about 4,000 tonnes of ash-mixed warm water into the Arabian Sea.
This would lead to fish famine in a 60-km area in the sea and affect the livelihood of fishermen there.
The project could affect the Shambhavi near Mulky and wells in a 40-km radius as the water there would get evaporated. The nearby water bodies could get contaminated.
Fly ash
The fly ash discharged from the plant would have its impact in a 100-km radius. People would find it difficult to open the doors and windows of their houses in about 30-km radius, Mr. Hegde said.
People in three to five kilometre radius of the plant would have to leave their houses as the heat in that area would increase by five degrees. If the coal stored for the plant accidentally caught fire, people in 10-km radius would be in danger. The full environmental impact of the plant on agriculture would be known after two years, he said.
Home Minister V.S. Acharya should be dismissed from the State Cabinet as he was acting as an agent of the power project.
Politicians should stop making baseless allegations against the samiti, he said.