THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At last, the Forest Department has cleared all hurdles for the three small hydro-electric projects of the KSEB, including the Anakkayam project which was denied permission owing to legal tangles for the past 21 years. Central Chief Conservator of Forests visited the three project sites at Anakkayam (7.5 MW), Perumthenaruvi Small Hydro-Electricity Project (SHEP - 6 MW) and Poringalkuthu Stage-1 SHEP (24 MW).Except Anakkayam, the other two projects were conceived three years ago. Sources said that the notification of the clearance of the projects was likely to be issued within a week. Though the Ministry of Environment and Forests has given the clearance for the Anakkayam project in 1990, the Forest Department had not transferred the eight hectares of land for the project. The KSEB had not acquired the land for the Anakkayam project as the Centre had issued fresh guidelines for the proposal. Permission of the National Board of Wildlife and Environment was needed as the forest land proposed for the Anakkayam Project fell within the buffer zone of the Parambikkulam Tiger Reserve and Elephant Reserve. Perumthenaruvi project was delayed as the compliance report of the Forest Department was not forwarded to the government. The project would have been lost in two years time if clearance was not given. The clearance of hydel projects will be speeded up with the formation of the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) which can take decisions on projects which are up to 25 MW.
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