Save Silent Valley
Encyclopedia
Save Silent Valley was a social movement aimed at the protection of Silent valley, an evergreen tropical forest in the Palakkad district of Kerala, India. It was started in 1973 to save the Silent Valley Reserve Forest
in from being flooded by a hydroelectric project. The valley was declared as Silent Valley National Park
in 1985. Nonetheless the controversy surrounding the valley is still on.
on the Kunthipuzha River was identified as an ideal site for electricity generation
. A study and survey was conducted in 1958 of the area about the possibility of a hydroelectric project of 120 MV and one costing Rs. 17 Crore was later proposed by the Kerala State Electricity Board.
The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) decided to implement the Silent Valley Hydro-Electric Project (SVHEP) centered on a dam
across the Kunthipuzha River in 1973. The resulting reservoir would have flood 8.3 km² of virgin rainforest
. The proposal was enquired by National Committee on Environmental Planning and Co-ordination (NCEPC) and suggested 17 safeguards to be implemented in case the project implemented. A shortage of funds delayed activity. Even then from 1974 to 1975 a very large number of trees were felled in the area.KSEB announced its plan to begin dam construction in 1973.
After the announcement of imminent dam construction the valley became the focal point of "Save Silent Valley", India's fiercest environmental
debate of the decade. Because of concern about the endangered lion-tailed macaque
, the issue was brought to public attention. Romulus Whitaker
, founder of the Madras Snake Park and the Madras Crocodile Bank
, was probably the first person to draw public attention to the small and remote area. In 1977 the Kerala Forest Research Institute
carried out an Ecological Impact study of the Silent Valley area and proposed that the area be declared a Biosphere Reserve.
In 1978 Smt. Indira Gandhi
, the Honorable Prime Minister of India, approved the project, with the condition that the State Government enact Legislation ensuring the necessary safeguards. Also that year the IUCN (Ashkhabad, USSR, 1978) passed a resolution
recommending protection of Lion-tailed Macaques in Silent Valley and Kalakkad
and the controversy heated up. In 1979 the Government of Kerala passed Legislation
regarding the Silent Valley Protection Area (Protection of Ecological balance Act of 1979) and issued a notification declaring the exclusion of the Hydroelectric Project Area from the proposed National Park.
activist Sugathakumari
played an important role in the silent valley protest and her poem "Marathinu Stuthi" (Ode to a Tree) became a symbol for the protest from the intellectual community and was the opening song/prayer of most of the "save the Silent Valley" campaign meetings. Dr. Salim Ali
, eminent ornithologist of the Bombay Natural History Society
, visited the Valley and appealed for cancellation of the Hydroelectric Project. A petition of writ
was filed before the High Court of Kerala, against the clear cutting of forests in the Hydroelectric Project area and the court ordered a stop to the clear cutting.
Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, the renowned Agricultural Scientist, and then Secretary to the Department of Agriculture, called at the Silent Valley region and his suggestion was 389.52 km² including the Silent Valley (89.52 km²), New Amarambalam
(80 km²), Attappadi
(120 km²) in Kerala and Kunda in Tamil Nadu (100 km²) reserve forest
s, should be made into a National Rainforest Biosphere Reserve
, with the aim of "preventing erosion of valuable genes
from the area". Listen:(8:46) to Dr. M. S. Swaminathan speaking on Sustainable Development, p.83, August 27, 2002
In January 1980 the Hon. High Court of Kerala lifted the ban on clear cutting, but then the Hon. Prime Minister of India requested the Government of Kerala to stop further works in the project area until all aspects were fully discussed. In December, the Government of Kerala declared the Silent Valley area, excluding the Hydroelectric Project area, as a National Park
.
In 1982 a multidisciplinary committee with Prof. M. G. K. Menon as chairman, was created to decide if the Hydroelectric Project was feasible without any significant ecological damage. Early in 1983, Prof. Menon's Committee submitted its report. After a careful study of the Menon report, the Hon. Prime Minister of India decided to abandon the Project. On October 31, 1984 Indira Gandhi was assassinated and on November 15 the Silent Valley forests were declared as a National Park, though the boundaries of the Silent Valley Park were limited and no buffer zone was created, despite recommendations by expert committees and scientists.
Ten months later, on September 7, 1985 the Silent Valley National Park was formally inaugurated and a memorial at Sairandhri to Indira Gandhi was unveiled by Shri. Rajiv Gandhi
, the new Hon. Prime Minister of India. On September 1, 1986 Silent Valley National Park was designated as the core area of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve
.
Since then, a long-term conservation effort has been undertaken to preserve the Silent Valley ecosystem
.
The Kerala Minister for Electricity called The Pathrakkadavu dam (PHEP) an "eco-friendly alternative" to the old Silent Valley project. The PHEP was designed as a run-off-the-river project with an installed capacity of 70 MW in the first phase (105 MW eventually) and an energy generation of 214 million units (Mu) with a minimal gross storage of 0.872 million cubic metres. The claim was that the submergence area of the PHEP would be a negligible .041 km² compared to 8.30 km² submergence of the 1970s (SVHEP).. However, The spectacular waterfall between the Neelikkal and Pathrakkadavu hills bordering the Silent Valley will disappear if the proposed Pathrakkadavu hydro-electric project is implemented. - Image
During January to May 2003 a rapid Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was carried out during by the Thiruvananthapuram-based Environmental Resources Research Centre and its report was released in December, stating that forest lost due to the project would be just .2216 km², not including the 7.4 km approach road and land to be acquired for the powerhouse in Karapadam.
Silent Valley National Park
Silent Valley National Park , is located in the Nilgiri Hills, Palakkad District in Kerala, South India...
in from being flooded by a hydroelectric project. The valley was declared as Silent Valley National Park
Silent Valley National Park
Silent Valley National Park , is located in the Nilgiri Hills, Palakkad District in Kerala, South India...
in 1985. Nonetheless the controversy surrounding the valley is still on.
Background
The Kuntipuzha is a major river that flows 15 km southwest from Silent Valley. It takes its origin in the lush green forests of Silent valley. In 1928 the location at SairandhriSairandhri
Sairandhri is a place in Kerala, South India at about . It is the entrance point and visitors center for Silent Valley National Park. Sairandhri is the site of a controversial hydroelectric dam that was proposed in 1958 and finally rejected in 1984....
on the Kunthipuzha River was identified as an ideal site for electricity generation
Electricity generation
Electricity generation is the process of generating electric energy from other forms of energy.The fundamental principles of electricity generation were discovered during the 1820s and early 1830s by the British scientist Michael Faraday...
. A study and survey was conducted in 1958 of the area about the possibility of a hydroelectric project of 120 MV and one costing Rs. 17 Crore was later proposed by the Kerala State Electricity Board.
The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) decided to implement the Silent Valley Hydro-Electric Project (SVHEP) centered on a dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
across the Kunthipuzha River in 1973. The resulting reservoir would have flood 8.3 km² of virgin rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
. The proposal was enquired by National Committee on Environmental Planning and Co-ordination (NCEPC) and suggested 17 safeguards to be implemented in case the project implemented. A shortage of funds delayed activity. Even then from 1974 to 1975 a very large number of trees were felled in the area.KSEB announced its plan to begin dam construction in 1973.
Beginnings
Environmental movement
The environmental movement, a term that includes the conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues....
debate of the decade. Because of concern about the endangered lion-tailed macaque
Lion-tailed Macaque
The lion-tailed macaque is an Old World monkey that is endemic to the Western Ghats of South India.-Physical Characteristics:...
, the issue was brought to public attention. Romulus Whitaker
Romulus Whitaker
Romulus Earl Whitaker is a herpetologist, wildlife conservationist and founder of the Madras Snake Park, The Andaman and Nicobar Environment Trust , and the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust....
, founder of the Madras Snake Park and the Madras Crocodile Bank
Madras Crocodile Bank Trust
The Madras Crocodile Bank Trust and Centre for Herpetology is a reptile zoo and herpetology research station, located south of the city of Chennai, in state of Tamil Nadu, India. The centre is both a registered trust and a recognized zoo under the Wildlife Act, 1972 and is India's leading...
, was probably the first person to draw public attention to the small and remote area. In 1977 the Kerala Forest Research Institute
Kerala Forest Research Institute
The Kerala Forest Research Institute is an research organisation based in Peechi, in Thrissur, India. The Institution was established in 1975 by the Government of Kerala as part of its Science and Technology Department, and in 2003 became part of the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology...
carried out an Ecological Impact study of the Silent Valley area and proposed that the area be declared a Biosphere Reserve.
In 1978 Smt. Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
, the Honorable Prime Minister of India, approved the project, with the condition that the State Government enact Legislation ensuring the necessary safeguards. Also that year the IUCN (Ashkhabad, USSR, 1978) passed a resolution
Resolution (law)
A resolution is a written motion adopted by a deliberative body. The substance of the resolution can be anything that can normally be proposed as a motion. For long or important motions, though, it is often better to have them written out so that discussion is easier or so that it can be...
recommending protection of Lion-tailed Macaques in Silent Valley and Kalakkad
Kalakkad
Kalakkad is a panchayat town in Tirunelveli district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.-Demographics: India census, Kalakkadu had a population of 27,025. Males constitute 48% of the population and females 52%. Kalakkadu has an average literacy rate of 77%, higher than the national average of 59.5%:...
and the controversy heated up. In 1979 the Government of Kerala passed Legislation
Legislation
Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...
regarding the Silent Valley Protection Area (Protection of Ecological balance Act of 1979) and issued a notification declaring the exclusion of the Hydroelectric Project Area from the proposed National Park.
Participants
Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishath (KSSP) effectively aroused public opinion on the requirement to save Silent Valley. They also published a Techno-economic and Socio-Political assessment report on the Silent Valley Hydroelectric project. The poetPoet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
activist Sugathakumari
Sugathakumari
Sugathakumari is an Indian poet and activist, who has been at the forefront of environmental and feminist movements in Kerala, South India. She played a big role in the Save Silent Valley protest. She formed Abhayagrama, aka Abhayagramam, a home for destitute women and a day-care centre for the...
played an important role in the silent valley protest and her poem "Marathinu Stuthi" (Ode to a Tree) became a symbol for the protest from the intellectual community and was the opening song/prayer of most of the "save the Silent Valley" campaign meetings. Dr. Salim Ali
Salim Ali
Sálim Moizuddin Abdul Ali was an Indian ornithologist and naturalist. Known as the "birdman of India", Salim Ali was among the first Indians to conduct systematic bird surveys across India and his bird books helped develop ornithology...
, eminent ornithologist of the Bombay Natural History Society
Bombay Natural History Society
The Bombay Natural History Society, founded on 15 September 1883, is one of the largest non-governmental organizations in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research. It supports many research efforts through grants, and publishes the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. Many...
, visited the Valley and appealed for cancellation of the Hydroelectric Project. A petition of writ
Writ
In common law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court...
was filed before the High Court of Kerala, against the clear cutting of forests in the Hydroelectric Project area and the court ordered a stop to the clear cutting.
Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, the renowned Agricultural Scientist, and then Secretary to the Department of Agriculture, called at the Silent Valley region and his suggestion was 389.52 km² including the Silent Valley (89.52 km²), New Amarambalam
Amarambalam
New Amarambalam Reserved Forest is near Nilambur town and conjoins Silent Valley National Park. Central location is . Area is 265.72 km². Altitude rises sharply from 40 m to 2,554 m....
(80 km²), Attappadi
Attappadi
Attappadi Reserve Forest is a protected area comprising 249 km² of land covering the westernmost part of the 745 km² Attappadi block of Mannarghat Taluk in Palakkad district of Kerala, south India....
(120 km²) in Kerala and Kunda in Tamil Nadu (100 km²) reserve forest
Reserve forest
You may be looking for forest reserve, a generic term associated with protected forest areas, which is also used as a specific term for protected forests in some countries...
s, should be made into a National Rainforest Biosphere Reserve
Biosphere reserve
The Man and the Biosphere Programme of UNESCO was established in 1971 to promote interdisciplinary approaches to management, research and education in ecosystem conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.-Development:...
, with the aim of "preventing erosion of valuable genes
Gênes
Gênes is the name of a département of the First French Empire in present Italy, named after the city of Genoa. It was formed in 1805, when Napoleon Bonaparte occupied the Republic of Genoa. Its capital was Genoa, and it was divided in the arrondissements of Genoa, Bobbio, Novi Ligure, Tortona and...
from the area". Listen:(8:46) to Dr. M. S. Swaminathan speaking on Sustainable Development, p.83, August 27, 2002
In January 1980 the Hon. High Court of Kerala lifted the ban on clear cutting, but then the Hon. Prime Minister of India requested the Government of Kerala to stop further works in the project area until all aspects were fully discussed. In December, the Government of Kerala declared the Silent Valley area, excluding the Hydroelectric Project area, as a National Park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
.
In 1982 a multidisciplinary committee with Prof. M. G. K. Menon as chairman, was created to decide if the Hydroelectric Project was feasible without any significant ecological damage. Early in 1983, Prof. Menon's Committee submitted its report. After a careful study of the Menon report, the Hon. Prime Minister of India decided to abandon the Project. On October 31, 1984 Indira Gandhi was assassinated and on November 15 the Silent Valley forests were declared as a National Park, though the boundaries of the Silent Valley Park were limited and no buffer zone was created, despite recommendations by expert committees and scientists.
Park inaugurated
Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...
, the new Hon. Prime Minister of India. On September 1, 1986 Silent Valley National Park was designated as the core area of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve
Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve
The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve is an International Biosphere Reserve in the Western Ghats, Nilgiri Hills range of South India. The Western Ghats, Nilgiri Sub-Cluster , conjoining the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, is under consideration by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee for selection as a World...
.
Since then, a long-term conservation effort has been undertaken to preserve the Silent Valley ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
.
A New Dam proposal
In 2001 a new Hydro project was proposed and the "Man vs. Monkey debate" was revived. The proposed site of the dam (64.5 m high and 275 m long) is just 3.5 km downstream of the old dam site at Sairandhiri, 500 m outside the National Park boundary.. The 84 km² catchment of the project area included 79 km² of the Silent Valley National Park.The Kerala Minister for Electricity called The Pathrakkadavu dam (PHEP) an "eco-friendly alternative" to the old Silent Valley project. The PHEP was designed as a run-off-the-river project with an installed capacity of 70 MW in the first phase (105 MW eventually) and an energy generation of 214 million units (Mu) with a minimal gross storage of 0.872 million cubic metres. The claim was that the submergence area of the PHEP would be a negligible .041 km² compared to 8.30 km² submergence of the 1970s (SVHEP).. However, The spectacular waterfall between the Neelikkal and Pathrakkadavu hills bordering the Silent Valley will disappear if the proposed Pathrakkadavu hydro-electric project is implemented. - Image
During January to May 2003 a rapid Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was carried out during by the Thiruvananthapuram-based Environmental Resources Research Centre and its report was released in December, stating that forest lost due to the project would be just .2216 km², not including the 7.4 km approach road and land to be acquired for the powerhouse in Karapadam.
Present status - News
- Little more was heard till Nov. 15, 2006 when Kerala Minister for Forest Binoy Viswam said that the proposed buffer zoneBuffer zoneA buffer zone is generally a zonal area that lies between two or more other areas , but depending on the type of buffer zone, the reason for it may be to segregate regions or to conjoin them....
for Silent Valley would be declared soon.. - On Feb 21, 2007 Chief Minister A. K. Antony told reporters after a cabinet meeting that "when the Silent Valley proposal was dropped, the centre had promised to give clearance to the Pooyamkutty project. This promise, however, had not been honoured. The Kerala government has not taken any decision on reviving the Silent Valley Hydel Project".
- On Mar 22, 2007 the activist poetPoetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
SugathakumariSugathakumariSugathakumari is an Indian poet and activist, who has been at the forefront of environmental and feminist movements in Kerala, South India. She played a big role in the Save Silent Valley protest. She formed Abhayagrama, aka Abhayagramam, a home for destitute women and a day-care centre for the...
appealed to the Chief Minister of Kerala to restrain the Electricity Minister from reviving the proposal for a hydroelectric project at Pathrakkadavu. - On April 18, 2007, Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan and his cabinet approved the Pathrakkadavu Hydro-electric project and sent it to the Union GovernmentGovernment of IndiaThe Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
for environmental approval., - The 147.22 km² Silent Valley Buffer Zone was formally approved by the Kerala Cabinet on June 6, 2007. The Cabinet also sanctioned 35 staff to protect the area and two new forest stations in Bhavani range at Anavai and Thudukki. The zone is aimed at checking the illicit cultivation of ganja, poaching and illicit brewing in areas adjacent to Silent Valley and help long-term sustainability of the protected area.