Protest Intensifies as PGCIL turns a deaf ear

As information about the destruction of trees in forests and plantations of Coorg due to the Power Grid Corporation of India‘s efforts to pull high tension power line from Coorg to Kerala – the protest has been gathering steam.

A committee has been set-up, headed by an expert from Central Power Research Institute to look into the concerns of people of Coorg and will be submitting a report in few days.

Online Petitions have been launched to make people aware of the situation and bring it to the notice of the general public.

Bheemaiah Muckatira’s petition at Greenpeace’s website has already gathered 3000 plus signatures.

Though alternative and shorter routes for the power line to pass through Mangalore or Mulki is available, PGCIL seems not listening. Both Mangalore and Mulki have a Grid present, from where it can connect to Kerala.

It is alleged that the contract to fell trees has been handed to Kerala based timber merchants and the hidden agenda behind the whole exercise of choosing the longer route through Coorg is to chop the trees in Coorg’s forests and plantations and make a killing out of it.

Option of laying underground cables has also been ignored by PGCIL.

Another on-line petition to the Chief Minister of Karnataka mentions;

The cables can even be taken underground like was done in Gujarat¹Underground cables to save Kutch’s flamingos – https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Underground-cables-to-save-Kutchs-flamingos/articleshow/21203065.cms?referral=PM. This was done in 2011, due to the death of hundreds of migratory birds that came in contact with the High Tension Cables. The same Power Grid Corporation of India has also floated tenders for taking the entire High Tension Transmission Lines Underground in Navi Mumbai.

Footnotes

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  Underground cables to save Kutch’s flamingos – https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Underground-cables-to-save-Kutchs-flamingos/articleshow/21203065.cms?referral=PM