Silent Valley thoughts.....
To the development thirsty sharks of the state...
To the supporters and promoters-
of the proposed 'Paathrakkadavu' project,
To the State Board officials, beurocrats and above all
To the Communist Marxist Government in power in the state,
To the cautious public of Kerala,
Who still have the courage to see things in black and white
And shout that the king is naked.
Yes, agree, hydel power is cheaper and safer,
And the proposed 70MW project
in the buffer zone of the valley of Paathrakkadavu
Is small in scale when compared to other major ones,
And is just 4 km away from Silent Valley National Park.
The implementation of this multi crore project might help-
A handful of contractors thicken their pockets,
A few officials from the board too lick their salty hands,
The smeared sweet grease; quite natural.
We do not have concerns, its part and parcel of the nation's history
Accepted!!!
But the area where you are going to axe down
On the name of development and power generation
Was declared a national park in 1984.
It is known for rare species of animals,
Plants, birds, reptiles, sweet little butterflies...
A nature's gift with wonderful flora and fauna
One of the worlds rare virgin forests.
To the supporters and promoters-
of the proposed 'Paathrakkadavu' project,
To the State Board officials, beurocrats and above all
To the Communist Marxist Government in power in the state,
To the cautious public of Kerala,
Who still have the courage to see things in black and white
And shout that the king is naked.
Yes, agree, hydel power is cheaper and safer,
And the proposed 70MW project
in the buffer zone of the valley of Paathrakkadavu
Is small in scale when compared to other major ones,
And is just 4 km away from Silent Valley National Park.
The implementation of this multi crore project might help-
A handful of contractors thicken their pockets,
A few officials from the board too lick their salty hands,
The smeared sweet grease; quite natural.
We do not have concerns, its part and parcel of the nation's history
Accepted!!!
But the area where you are going to axe down
On the name of development and power generation
Was declared a national park in 1984.
It is known for rare species of animals,
Plants, birds, reptiles, sweet little butterflies...
A nature's gift with wonderful flora and fauna
One of the worlds rare virgin forests.
Just because it fall under our geography,
Neither Kerala nor India can claim it and exploit;
It is a treasure and an asset for the whole of humanity.
Which needs to be nurtured and protected with utmost care.
Else how do we claim ourselves a civilized populace?
The Sairandrivanam (ancient name of Silent valley)
is situated 1100 km above sea level.
It is blanketed by rare and dense rain forest.
The only home of endangered lion tailed monkeys,
The rain forest that keep Kunthippuzha (the tributary of Bharathappuzha)
Alive, full fledged and vibrant, throughout the year.
Power whether electrical or political must be decentralised,
if it has to reach the grass roots effectively.
A fact; scientifically tried and proven.
We have already set the example
by decentralising official, political power.
The 'Panchayat Raj', the real power to the masses.
Now we need to decentralise electrical power,
the very back bone of any modern society's growth.
We need to think beyond Idukki and Lower Periyar
The possibilities of mini and micro hydel projects
Which cater the local needs have to be explored,
And developed effectively.
They may not churn out million spitting projects,
But that is the need of the hour, in the densely populated state.
The enormous distribution losses can be reduced in this manner.
It is a shame we forget (that we have a long costal line)
It is high time we tapped current from tides
And why the hell do we ignore wind power?
When there is enough scope and possibilities for both in the state.
When the whole world is complaining about global warming
Can the centum literate Keralite be away from the bandwagon?
Don't we too have the responsibility to dial down the carbon?
We should not stumble in the dark;
development has to be understood in the right sense and meaning.
More non conventional methods have to be explored.
But...
Even if power is not generated and we sit in the darkness,
Let silent valley and its virgin inhabitants be peaceful.
Let us leave them alone, respect and honour their right to live
Let us show that minimum commonsense.
if it has to reach the grass roots effectively.
A fact; scientifically tried and proven.
We have already set the example
by decentralising official, political power.
The 'Panchayat Raj', the real power to the masses.
Now we need to decentralise electrical power,
the very back bone of any modern society's growth.
We need to think beyond Idukki and Lower Periyar
The possibilities of mini and micro hydel projects
Which cater the local needs have to be explored,
And developed effectively.
They may not churn out million spitting projects,
But that is the need of the hour, in the densely populated state.
The enormous distribution losses can be reduced in this manner.
It is a shame we forget (that we have a long costal line)
It is high time we tapped current from tides
And why the hell do we ignore wind power?
When there is enough scope and possibilities for both in the state.
When the whole world is complaining about global warming
Can the centum literate Keralite be away from the bandwagon?
Don't we too have the responsibility to dial down the carbon?
We should not stumble in the dark;
development has to be understood in the right sense and meaning.
More non conventional methods have to be explored.
But...
Even if power is not generated and we sit in the darkness,
Let silent valley and its virgin inhabitants be peaceful.
Let us leave them alone, respect and honour their right to live
Let us show that minimum commonsense.
posted by arjun sagar at 3:28 pm
2 Comments:
Sagar I do agree with your idea that Silent valley contain rare and exticting species of wild life.It is one of the beautiful and naturally holistical place too.Hydel power is not the only source of pure and clean source.
It may be true that since initial setting cost of hydel power is too high contractors and board officals may make their pocket big.
Tidal power is a potentially unexplored source.But these tidal water need to be kept in higher places and blocked.For that we may need to build some small dams in coastal areas.Won't so called environmentalist and other nature lovers start fighting against it telling kerala's back water beauty lost,....beaches are disappearing.
Also it is not a continuous source of energy.
If you think about wind power it has same problem as of tidal power.
Also will we get acres of tree less land in Kerala(only potenet area is palakkad)so that we can get obstructio free wind for wind mill.
It left us with two possible solutions.1:either use solar power or hydel electricity.
Solar power conversion is still in its child hood.If it can make a reality then....
Till that time being abundant in water we have to use hydel power.Does these dinosaurus exticted because of Human impact.Everything has its own age and even human kind too will extinct one day and something other may comes.It is the changing character of nature.
Sagar I do agree with your idea that Silent valley contain rare and exticting species of wild life.It is one of the beautiful and naturally holistical place too.Hydel power is not the only source of pure and clean source.
It may be true that since initial setting cost of hydel power is too high contractors and board officals may make their pocket big.
Tidal power is a potentially unexplored source.But these tidal water need to be kept in higher places and blocked.For that we may need to build some small dams in coastal areas.Won't so called environmentalist and other nature lovers start fighting against it telling kerala's back water beauty lost,....beaches are disappearing.
Also it is not a continuous source of energy.
If you think about wind power it has same problem as of tidal power.
Also will we get acres of tree less land in Kerala(only potenet area is palakkad)so that we can get obstructio free wind for wind mill.
It left us with two possible solutions.1:either use solar power or hydel electricity.
Solar power conversion is still in its child hood.If it can make a reality then....
Till that time being abundant in water we have to use hydel power.Does these dinosaurus exticted because of Human impact.Everything has its own age and even human kind too will extinct one day and something other may comes.It is the changing character of nature.
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