THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The joint action council for the protection of Chalakkudy River called on Electricity Minister Aryadan Mohammed on Friday, urging him to drop the contentious Athirappally Hydroelectric Project planned in the Chalakkudy River basin.At a two-hour meeting, the action council members, accompanied by several people's representatives from Thrissur, made a presentation on why the project should be shelved.''The project is impractical and useless. It will cause immense damage to the state,'' M Mohandas of the Athirappally Action Council later told this paper.The 163MW hydel project has been the centre of a decadeslong row between the Kerala State Electricity Board and greens. Although the KSEB says all the relevant clearances have been obtained from the Centre, the project has not moved an inch forward owing to stiff opposition.Successive governments have shied away from taking up the project. Recently, the Kerala State Electricity Board had written to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) requesting it to withdraw a notice issued to show cause as to why the project should not be scrapped.''The minister told us that the arguments would be looked into,'' Mohandas said.The team from Thrissur also included River Protection Forum chairman K K Shelley; Chalakkudy Puzha Samrakshana Samithi secretary S P Ravi, River Research Centre directors Dr A Latha and A Unnikrishnan. Accompanying them were Thrissur District Panchayat president K V Dasan and other panchayat officials.Kerala State Electricity Board chairman V P Joy and other officials were also present at the meeting.
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