It was only last week that the district collector temporarily halted Kerala State Electricity Board’s (KSEB) work at Santhivanam, a 200-year-old mini forest at Paravur in Ernakulam, which is home to an array of flora, fauna and sacred groves. On Tuesday, however, the KSEB resumed its work of laying the 110 KV electricity supply line through Santhivanam.
With KSEB restarting work, the issue has turned political. The rift between the CPI(M)-led government and the local party committee over the issue has become explicit.
Important leaders of the CPI(M) in Ernakulam district had expressed solidarity with Meena Menon, owner of Santhivanam, and expressed the need to preserve the environment along with development projects. But Kerala’s Minister for Power MM Mani on Sunday stressed that there will be no change in the path of the supply line that is cutting through Santhivanam.
“The project cost crores of rupees. The work will be continued without any interruption. It was not even right to stop the work of the supply line in the first place,” MM Mani had told the media.
Though Meena had alleged that KSEB changed the alignment of the supply line’s path from what it was before, Power Minister said that no changes were made in the initial alignment.
According to Meena, the supply line would not pass through Santhivanam as per the initial plan. “But the owners of the land adjacent to Santhivanam intervened as they did not want the line to pass through their land,” Meena had alleged earlier.
Just a day after Mani said that the KSEB work will resume, CPI(M) leader and LDF’s Lok Sabha candidate P Rajeev took to Facebook to say that there is a need to preserve Santhivanam. However, he added, “We should supply electricity to the fishing community of Vypeen by protecting the environment." Incidentally, the 110KV electricity supply line is part of Mannam-Cherai distribution line project of KSEB in Vypeen island.
Speaking to TNM, TR Bose, CPI(M) area committee secretary of the party in Paravur, said that KSEB work should be carried out but not at the cost of destroying Santhivanam.
“I had gone to Santhivanam along with P Rajeev a few days ago. We are not against the KSEB’s project in any way; in fact, it will solve the problem of power shortage in the region. But we are also keen to protect the environment. Work should be conducted with no or minimal damage to Santhivanam,” Bose said.
But the district administration on Monday said that the project will continue at the same site with some minor changes that will decrease the impact on the environment.
“Some changes in the measurement of the tower has been mooted by KSEB. As per this, only three trees will have to be chopped down instead of 48 trees as having been estimated earlier,” District Collector K Mohammed Y Safirulla said during a press meet held in Kochi.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also, on Tuesday, said that the government will continue the project. “We stand for protecting the environment but this project will resume,” said the Chief Minister.
Meanwhile, Meena Menon, along with various environmentalist and supporters, are continuing their protest at the work site on Santhivanam.