Hotline Asia Urgent Appeals -- UA120104(1)

Action Requested || Sample Letter || Background || PDF version
Please respond before 4 February 2012

Summary
The Peppara Dam, in Kerala, South India, was commissioned in 1984, with the reservoir level specified at 104.5 meters, for the augmentation of the Aruvikkara reservoir that provides drinking water to the Thiruvananthapuram city and suburbs. Due to the ecological significance of the area, it was also declared a Wildlife Sanctuary in the same year. Now the state government is planning to raise the reservoir level to 110.5 meters to store more drinking water for supply. This will result in the submerging of around 267 hectares of forest land which houses around 100 homes belonging to 13 Kani settlements. The Kani is one of the tribal groups in India.

While the state government of Kerala and the central government are obliged to study the need for raising the water level in the dam and its environmental impact on the region, there was no proper public discourse and dialogue with the tribal people in the affected areas. Instead, the Kerala state government has already submitted the proposal to raise the water level to the central government.

Before the commissioning of the dam itself, many of the tribals were already displaced and deprived of their source of living. The threat of dislocation thus looms large over the remaining Kanis of the same area with the plan to augment the water storage capacity of the dam.

Please write polite letters to express your concern over the issue of raising the water level of Peppara Dam. Kindly request the Indian government and the Kerala state government to drop the proposal of raising the water level in Peppara Dam.
.

Sample Letter

This is a sample letter for your reference. Please try to write it on your own and avoid typing 'cc ACPP' on any part of your letter. Please send us copies separately, for monitoring purpose.

Background
Peppara Dam is located on the Karamana River, in the Agasthia Biosphere (Western Ghats Range), 50 km Northeast of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, South India. The total water spread of the reservoir is 5.82 square kilometers (2.25 sq mi). Now the state Government is planning to increase the water level of the dam to its full reservoir level. Once the shutters of the dam are downed, the height of the water stored in the dam will go up from 104.5 meters to 110.5 meters. This huge quantity of water would however result in the submergence of 267 hectares of forest land.

Impact on Tribes
A number of Kani settlements in the Peppara basin were displaced during the early 1980s with the commissioning of Peppara Dam. The displaced Kanikkar resettled themselves haphazardly, in stages or areas near the dam. They have only small bits of land ranging in extent from 10 cents (one-tenth of an acre) to 2 acres (the original allotted area per family). At present there are around 100 families living inside the Sanctuary. The threat of their dislocation looms large because of the plan to augment the water storage capacity of the dam.

The Kanikkar also have an intimate relationship with nature and depend on the forest for their livelihood. Therefore, it will be difficult for them to live in non-forest areas and their suffering cannot be compensated. From experience too, the rehabilitation packages allotted by the government will not help them in the long term.

If the proposal is approved and implemented thus, the Kani community will have to face several adverse social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts that affect their productive assets, sources of livelihood, homesteads, cultural identity, families and kinship, social relations, community structure, traditional authority and potential for mutual help that come out of these relationships. Their traditional ecologically viable agriculture will be destroyed and this in turn will affect their food security and overall self-sufficiency.

Abode of Biodiversity
This part of Western Ghats is called the ‘abode of biodiversity’. Agasthyarkoodam is one of the Ghats in the Peppara. The green virgin forest filled with herbal plants gives the impression that we are in a huge herbal garden. ‘Agasthyamala’ means heaven of medicinal plants and rare herbs. ‘Arogyapacha’ (plant of eternal health) is one such
rare herb which had been spotted here. Another attraction is the Neelakurinji Flower- which blooms only once in twelve years. There are also around 2000 varieties of medicinal plants, of which at least 50 are rare and endangered species, used for Siddha and Ayurveda treatments, which can be found there.

The areas proposed to be submerged by the raising of the reservoir level are locations also frequented by the habitat of many wild animals. Kerala Forest Department have found large numbers of wild animals such as Elephants, Tigers, Sambars, Panthers, Indian Bison, Lion-tailed Macaques, Wild Boars, Barking Deer, Malabar Squirrels, Gaur, Mouse Deer, Nilgiri Langurs, etc. The preserved area has also rich variety of birds, butterflies and moths.

A political decision?
The Forest (Conservation) Act, passed in 1980, mandated Central clearance for diversion of forests for non-forestry purposes. Twice this clearance had been denied in relation to raising the water level of Peppara Dam because a subcommittee of experts from the National Board for Wildlife and State Board for Wildlife which studied the issue feared serious harm to biodiversity. The Kerala state government does not approve of the results of the study and the board has been asked to reconsider the matter again. It is feared that the demand for storage of more water for Thiruvananthpuram city, where all the political and bureaucratic heads of the state have their residence, will be considered far more seriously than the protection of the life of tribals and the wildlife species.

The affected Adivasis of Peppara Dam have initiated an action group called “Adivasi Samara Samidhi” (Tribal Protest Group) against the government order to raise the water level of the dam. They are very poor and are unable to go for large scale propaganda as well as or even protest marches for protecting their rights, hence this urgent appeal for international solidarity.

Thank you for Your Continued Support!!