Electricity Minister K. Krishnankutty on Thursday said that the government intended to take forward the Athirappilly hydroelectric project only through general consensus of all sections.
Responding to a query by D.K. Murali [CPI (M)] in the House on whether the government has abandoned the controversial project, Mr. Krishnankutty did not provide a clear answer. He, however, said that the government had provided a non-objection certificate for seven years in 2020 to the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) to undertake the project.
He also pointed out that the KSEB had paid the Forest department amounts of Rs. 1.14 crore for undertaking compensatory afforestation on 138.6 hectares of land and Rs. 4.11 crore for chopping down the trees on 25.22 hectares of forest land. The Minister added that the KSEB stood to receive refunds of the payments if the project fails to take off.
