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CEA permits mini-hydro projects sans EIA: RPSL
View(s):An alliance of environmentalists are protesting against the Central Environmental Authority’s (CEA) continued issuance of permits to mini-hydro plants across waterfalls, streams and rivers in the wet zone, despite, what they allege, are several ecological and social issues. The CEA has “ignored all pleas by villagers and environmental groups, and are still issuing new permits, as seen by their recent approval to construct another private mini-hydro plant across Athwelthota waterfall,” states the Rainforest Protectors of Sri Lanka (RPSL).
These projects are carried out by a handful of private companies with the sole aim of generating maximum profit. “The current process does not involve any Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) by an independent organisation, with public comments,” the association says. “Instead, the developers themselves submit an Initial Environment Examination (IEE) report which is biased and full of false information.”
Such reports are habitually approved by the CEA without field investigations, during or after construction. Approximately 1,000 km of streams and rivers have already dried out, resulting in many villagers and farmers suffering due to lack of water. “Many rare and endemic freshwater fish are heading towards extinction, and the country is losing valuable income due to impact on eco-tourism,” the RPSL warns. “Any development process should not be an ignorant one, but a conscious one with a focus on sustainability. Therefore, the national energy policy of Sri Lanka should be centred on ecologically sustainable energy, which would protect the water rights of the people and continuation of aquatic ecosystems.”
The RPLS reveals that, “Forest land adjoining the Koskulana River, forming the northern boundary of the Sinharaja World Heritage Rainforest, has been cleared of all vegetation, for the construction of a mini-hydro project, in clear violation of the State Land Ordinance.”
“At Anda Dola in the Galle District, a weir and 2.5 km section of concrete headrace channel are both constructed within the Dellawa Forest Reserve. Construction activities within a protected forest reserve are a violation of the Forest Ordinance of 1907, and punishable by law. The IEE report produced by the developer for the Anda Dola mini-hydro has failed to include many endemic species that inhabit the stream and surrounding forest.”
A report prepared by the Wildlife Conservation Society of Galle and submitted to the CEA, points out that, “Environmental and biodiversity information, including species of fauna, in many pages of the developer’s IEE are incorrect and misses many species.
“Findings of widespread violations indicate systemic failure of the entire process in place for the assessment of mini-hydro projects,” the RPLS states. “It is, in effect, a breach of trust in the very institutions that gate-keep approvals, and fully justifies the public’s scepticism in them.”