BMTCbuses often hit this power transformer In Ramanjaneyanagar

I Living a hightension lifeHouses in Ramanjaneyanagar are withina handshake distance from power linesBharath APatel~!r::'~·ii;~t.;tI.~I'gti!••I.

henarrowbylanesofRamanja-ney.nagar nearC\l.ikkalsandraare not fit even for a sedan totravel. But when you see aBMTC bus taking a turn Into

one of these roads, negotiating theprecariously placed power transfor-mer unit, you will be confused -whether to appreciate the drivingskills of the BMTe driver or to wonderhow utility providers can be so fool-hardy as to fix the power stabillser atsuch a dangerous spot.

This is just a sample. Starting fromthe fourth cross, houses in Ramanja-neyanagar have power lines alarming-ly close to the balconies or higherfloors. So much so, if the wind isstrong

. enough, the wires can even swingandtouch the windows or the walls.

A revenue layout, Ramanjaneya-nagar, is situated beyond Padmanab-hanagar where haphazard urbanlsa-tlon has taken place in recent years.Houses are built in contravention ofbuilding by-laws and no distance ismaintained between the transmls-

Asper IndianBectricity Rules1966, clearance for constructionofbuildingsadjacent or beneaththe highvoltage line is issuedbased on the maximumsagging ofthe electric Unesand verticalclearance between the highestpointofthe buildingand the eIec-tric lines-Whilethe clearance dis-tance between the buildingandelectricRneshouldbe 3.7 an for33kV line,Itshould be 3.7 mtrsfornnes canying po__ above 33 kV.Further,a distance of0-3 mwillbeadded forevery additional kV.

sion tower, buildings and the high-tension wires. It's not just the author-ities who are to be blamed; the resi-dents, eager to have dwellings of theirown, get sanctions to build by gener-ously greasing palms.

"Theelectricwiresruncloseneartohouses. People have built multi-sto-ried buildings where the upper floorsare close to the lines. If the construe-tionqualltyJspoor, the walls get dam-aged when there are power surges andwires touch the structure. I'm not sureif the builders have the necessary per-missions. There is a real estate boomhere. And thanks to landscardty, resi-dents get sanctions from officials whosit in their offices and give consent re-ports. They don't even visit the spotbefore approving the plan," said San-tosh Kumar, a resident who has wit-nessed the haphazard growth .

Some of the constructions havecome up in the last two to three years.Many residents are tenants who donot complain fearing their ownerswho \lvein the ground floor.

"It Is a nexus; engineers rarely •come for ihspections to review any vi-olation. They submit false reports,"said anotherresldent.

At one of the [unctions of Raman-janeyanagar, an electrical shop and atransformer share the same littlespace. According to locals, BMTCbus-es hit the transformer often.

Bescomexecutlveengineerandsu-perintendentin-chargeofSouthcircleNagaraj did notseemtobeaware of theIssue. He said he has been posted re-cently to the area. "It there is any prob-lem I will look into It. It any buildinghas violated rules, I will send them anotice and get details about the au-thorities who had given them thesanctions. The permission given forbuilding construction is not from Be-scorn but BBMP,' says'Nagara].

kl'll[):tjJD;.rfl~(;7'f~€-~...

Woman Ends.Life over Land,.Compensation.BangaJore: A 48-year-old

r woman farmer committed,suicideby consuming poisonfearing that she would notget compensation for herland which was being ac-

, quired for a power projectThe land, located at Chok-

kanayakanahaIli in Yelah-anka, is being acquired bythe Power Grid Corporationof India Limited (PGCIL)for

_laying transmission lines as'..part of the Southern Grid.

The victim, Akkayamma,wife of one Nanjappa, has

·two sons. ThepolicesaidAk-kayamma had consumedpoison when her familymembers were engaged in

·daily chores on Saturday,.She was rushed her to a pri-..vate hospital where she sue-.cumbed on Tuesday morn-jng.., The PGCILhad reportedly :"announced compensation-lor land needed to set up ,'poles, but not for the land :

· under the lines. It had also .put a condition that no cropshould begrown or construe-

_lion work could be taken up ,under the lines. '

The people, who owned .land under the lines, op- .

·posed this and wanted corn-pensation since they couldnot use it for their own pur-poses. Some people went tothe court and the PGCILwas .subsequently directed to de- :

. posit 60 per cent of the com-

.pensation amount with the;CoUlt before proceeding with .acquisition of land for the ..purpose. The company com- .plied with the directive. But •their issue was not solved. .

Not able to bear the fact .that the lines might pass over •her house and land, Ak-kayamma committed sui-cide, the police said. Mean-while, CM Siddaramaiah'announced a compensationof:t'2 lakh for Akkayamma's

..family. ENS

'1\1l\.3 lriCHI,v(JU

India, Japan tointensify talks oncivil nuclear pactSandeep Dikshit

NEW DElHI: India held its firstpost-Fukushima talks oncivil nuclear accord with Ja-pan on Tuesday with bothsides deciding to intensifynegotiations to reach anearly settlement.

The talks in Tokyo wereheld in a conducive politicalenvironment following theelection of a pro-India gov-ernment and the announce-ment that the Emperor ofJapanhas identified India asthe destination for one ofhisrare visits abroad.

The meeting. which tookplace after three years, is of-ficially the fourth round oftalks but the two sides havetouched base informally onseveral occasions as well.

Japan wants additionalcommitments from India asit is ·not a signatory to theNuclear Non-ProliferationTreaty but NewDelhi main-tains that commitments giv-en while signing civilnuclear agreements withthe U.S., France and Russiastood. good enough for Ja-pan as well.

New Delhi also draws at-tention to a letter written bythe then Foreign Minister,Pranab Mukhe~ee, in Sep-tember 2008 to the NuclearSuppliers Group assuringthe world community of In-dia's commitment to a mo-ratorium on nuclear tests,cooperation with the Inter-

.national Atomic· EnergyAgency,Additional Protocoland the separation plan forcivilian and strategic USereactors.

A civil nuclear agreementis crucial for the industriesof France, the U.S. and Ja-pan. For, Japanese compa-

.nies can supply some criticalcomponents to Westin-ghouse of the U.S.and Arevaof France for their civil nu-clear plants in India onlyaf-ter an India-Japan civilnuclear agreementis signed.

Government sources see. India-Japan ties taking on asmoother trajectory afterthe recent developments,including Prime MinisterManmohan Sijlgh namingthe former Union Minister,Ashwani Kumar, as his Spe-cial Envoy to Japan to main-tain the momentum ofhigh-level visits and Tokyomaking-an exception for In-dia bybending its strict lawsbarring export of defenceitems.

The talks have the back-ing of the two Prime Minis-ters when they met in Tokyo.earlier this year and decidedto ask their officials to "ac-celerate the negotiations ofan Agreement for Cooper-ation in the Peaceful Uses ofNuclear Energy towards anearly conclusion."

The Indian side includedsenior Foreign Office offi-cials Gautam Bambawaleand Bala Venkatesh Varma.

Power shut~Of'WJfodavBANGALORE:Th~~J/viil?enopowersupplyon Wednesdayfrom10 am. and 2 p.m,insomeareas comingundertheBanashankrisub-station.Theareas to be affected are:HanumanthaNagarGavipuraf!1,Basapp~layout,part ofSrmagar, GirinagarL 2,and3rd Phase,Vidyapeeta,CTBed,Tyagaraja Nagar,BanashankariIst Stage, N.RColony,NagendraBlock,MuneswaraBlock,Avalahalli,KRHospitalRoad,BOAlayout,BullTempleand MountJoyRoads,KGNagar,Hanumanthnagar,Chamarajpet,Sri nagar,MysoreRoad, Girinagar BankC~lo.ny,VinayakaNagar:Sn~lvasaNagar,Hoskerehalli,KahdasaNagar,MookambikaNagar,Oathathreya NagarIttamadu BOALayout,BSKIIIstage, Sapthagiri layout, T.G.Layout,Poornaprajnalayout,AnJaneyaNagar,BhuvaneshwariLayout,RamaraoLayoutand BalajiLayout - Staff Reporter

~~~~-~-hcrtdb~tomorrow D eCLa.y\-

l-k:6CA..lcL~'- There willbe power'f' shut down from 10 am

to 3 pm on September 5 inthe followingareas: RMZB2 Campus, KariyammanaAgrahara village,De- #

varabeesanahalli village,RMZ lA, 1B.l C,4A, 4Band 4C, Dev.irabeesanaha-li Gate, Country Club, RMZEco Space ( 2A,2B, 3A and3B), Shobha Apartments,Global Tech Park, Bellan-dur; Kaikondrahalli andKasavanahalli,

Consumers can lodgecomplaint bycalling 08022873333, according to apress release issued by Ban-galore Electricity Sup~Company Limited. / /

Chennai, Sept. 3: TamilNadu Chief Minister JJayalalithaa has written toPrime Minister ManmohanSingh seeking his interven-tion and advice toKarnataka government notto take up any schemes,including hydro-electricprojects, in the Cauverybasin without her state'sconsent.

"I also request you toadvice the Ministry ofEnvironment and Forests,Government of India, notto accord clearance to anyproject by Karnataka in theriver Cauvery till a perma-nent monitoring mecha-nism viz., the CauveryManagement Board isformed," she said in her let-ter, a copy of which wasmade available to themedia today.

Referring to mediareports of Karnataka gov-ernmenfs plan to constructa hydro power station atMekedatu for which threereservoirs across the riverCauvery were to be con-structed, she said, "..theproposed reservoirs nearMekedatu are new schemesnot contemplated in thefmal order of the CauveryWater Disputes Tribunal.Further, the Cauvery WaterDisputes Tribunal pre-scribes the total quantity ofwater to be used for con-sumptive use." "Therefore,this proposal of Karnatakais wholly illegal and iscausing great alarm andapprehension in Tamil

• In her letter to thePrime Minister, shesays the Mekedatuproject will affectthe natural flow of

.Cauvery andirrigation inTamil Nadu

Nadu, as. it will affect thenatural flow of the riverCauvery considerably andwill severely affect the Irri-gation in Tamil Nadu,' shecontented.

Observing thatKarnataka's plan would"set at nought" the finalorder of the Cauvery WaterDisputes Tribunal, shesaid, "The government ofKarnataka should not beallowed to unilaterally exe-cute a scheme without theconsent-of the lower ripart-an state."' The CauveryManagement Board, whichwas directed to be consti-tuted by the fmal order ofthe Cauvery WaterDisputes Tribunal was yetto be put in place by theCentre. -PTI

'--'''''-'-'-''T'' --_ _._.

Do~~t~l~; f{;;nataka'sCauvery projects: JayalalithaaSpecial Correspondent

CHENNAI: Chief MinisterJayalalithaa wants the Cen-tre to instruct Karnatakanot to take up any schemesin the Cauvery, including.hydro-electric projects,without the prior consent ofTamil Nadu.

Taking exception to theneighbouring State's pro-posal to build a reservoir.across the river at Mekedutufor' generation of hydro-electric power, Ms.Jayala-lithaa on Monday requestedPrime Minister ManmohanSingh to intervene.

In a letter to Dr. Singh,she, urged him to advise theUnion Ministry of Environ-ment and Forests not to ac-cord clearance to anyprojects ofKarnataka in theriver till the Cauvery Man-agement Board is formed.Details of the letter were re-leased to the media unTuesday.

Pointing to KarnatakaLaw Minister's statement inthe media about the plan toconstruct a hydro powerstation at Mekedatu, shesaid three reservoirs wen: to

1\'\113 -Grnt75 e r ':CrvO~f/-

Iaya opposes K'takaprojects on Cauvery

TNN & AGENCIES

Bangalore/Chennai: Kar na-taka has decided to hold discus-sions with the legal team hand-ling the Cauvery waters disputeregarding Tamil Nadu .CM JJayalalithaa opposing thestate's plans to build mini hydelpower projects near Mekedatu.. Water resources minister M

B Patil told TOl here on Tuesday,that discussion had been held inNew Delhi with the legal teamon constructing the hydel pro-jects three days ago.

"The case is in the SupremeCourt. I will have another roundof discussions with the legalteam," he added.

In a letter to Prime MinisterManmohan Singh. the TN CMhas urged him to advise Karna-taka not to go ahead with the hy-del projects. She also requestedthe PM to tell the ministry of en-vironment and forests not togive clearance to any project ofKarnataka.

In the letter, Jayalalithaasaid: "I seek your immediate in-tervention in the matter and reoquest you to advise Karnatakanot to take up any schemes in-cluding hydro electric projectsin the Cauvery basin without

be constructed across theCauvery for the purpose. Itwas also reported that Kar-nataka proposed to utilisethe surplus water of the He-mavathy and the Krishnara-jasagar reservoirs at anestimated cost of Rs.500crore to Rs.600 crore fordrinking water schemes,Ms.Jayalalithaa said.

"The proposed reservoirsnear Mekedatu are newschemes [and] not contem-plated in the final order ofthe Cauvery Water DisputesTribunal," she said.

As the Tribunal had pre-scribed the total quantity ofwater to be used for con-sumptive.use, this proposalof Karnataka was "wholly i'I-legal".

The move would affectthe natural flow of the Cauv-ery river considerably andseverely affect irrigation inTamil Nadu, the Chief Min-ister said, adding the pro-posal was causing alarm andapprehension. Noting thatthe proposal would set atnought the Tribunal's finalorder, she said Karnatakashould not be allowed tuunilaterally execute' a

scheme without the lowerriparian State's consent.

Moreover, the CauveryManagement Board direct-ed to be constituted by thefinal order of the Tribunalwas yet to be put in place bythe Centre. In the absence ofthe Board, ,,~ permanentmonitoring mechanism",

. the Karnataka Minister'sstand that there is no im-pediment to construction ofa reservoir was wholly un-tenable and against all' prin-ciples of federalism, she saidin her letter.

The Tamil Nadu govern- •ment, she added, had filedan interlocutory applicationin the Supreme' Court seek-ing to restrain Karnatakafrom executing the Shivasa-mudrarn and Mekedatu hy-dro-electric projects on itsown.

It wanted the apex courtto direct the Centre to exe-cute the Shivasarnudram,Mekedatu, Hogenekkal andRasimanal hydel projects asa package through the Na-tional Hydro Power Corpo-ration Ltd 0["" any otherappropriate central powergeneration utility.

."JaycaaysnotOKa rnata ka's,hydel projects on Cauvery

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief J)q (r;Minister J JayalaJitha on Tues- Pffday urged Prime Minister Man-mohan Singh to adviseKaranataka notto build any hy-del power projects on the Cau-very.

She~requ~edtheprUneminister to tell the Ministry ofEnvironment and Forests notto give clearance to anyprojectofKamataka.

In a letter to ManmohanSingh released to the mediahere, Jayalalitha said: "I seekyour immediate interventionin the matter and request youto advise Kamataka not to takeup any schemes including hy-

~~;,..·.f~L:,,~'"",",>.,>~~."",.:the prior consent of the govern-ment of Tamil Nadu. "1 also reoquest you to advise the ministryof environment and forests notto accord clearance to any pro-ject of Kamataka in the Cauv-ery till a permanent monitoringmechanism (Cauvery Manage-ment Board) is formed."

Referring to reports thatKarnataka planned to buildthree reservoirs across Cauveryto set up mini hydel projects atMekedatu, she' said the projectswere new and not contemplatedin the final order of theCauveryWater Disputes Tribunal._ ..e;\:.,

ka in the Cauvery till a perma-nent monitoring mechanism(Cauvery Management Board)is formed"

Referring to reports thatKarnataka planned to buildthree reservoirs across Cau-very to set up a hydel powerproject at Mekedatu, she saidthe projects were new and notcontemplated in the finaJ orderof the Cauvery Water DisputesTribunal.

"Further, the Cauvery WaterDisputes Tribunal prescribesthe total quantity of water tobe used for consumptive use,"she said.Agencies

dro electric projects in the Cau-very basin without the priorconsent of the government ofTamil Nadu.

"I also request you to advisethe Ministry of Environmentand Forests not to accord clear-ance to any project of Karnata-

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Defining Roadmap - II for Concentrated Solar Power ---I.:.IIRA--GODAWARI GREEN ENERGY

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)has a scope for substantial growth with the right planning, correct development and government support with a long term vision. CSPis the only solar technology that standsqualified for grid parity in totality owing to its dispatch ability, grid stability and inherent characteristics.

Fltst SolarThetTMI Power project site viaw of Godlweri Green Energy Limited,(GGEl.) Raj•• than, IndiL

CSP sector with Its sustainable approach has opened $everalopportunities for India. this however is challenged by some keyfactors that must be analyzed and addressed to avctd projectdelays and Increase investor confidence to help the CSP market inIndia grow:Umltedsolarl"adlance data: Some Phase 1 projects experienceddelays and higher costs because developers needed to re-designproject systems that were initially based on Impreciseassessments from satellite data. For Phase 2, a coordinateddiscussion is needed to target additional solutions for DNI dataavailability and su~abllity In order to Improve project design,meet time frames, and build marketconfidence.

Lack of trained technicians to build CSP projects: Somedevelopers struggled to find a sufficient number of adequatelytrained technicians with fabrication and welding skills for CSPprojects. The limited'"technical workforce slowed some projects.The sizeable Indian workforce with Its transferable skills as a keystrength with tremendous potential. This can be a very strongfactor for the growth of CSP and solve staling problems with theprojects.

Appreciation for commercial aspects only Instead of techno-commercial merits: a lack of understanding and appreciation forthe distinguishing factors of the CSP technology that a", mainly;supplementing base-load requirements, suppfying peak loadselectricity through dispatchable power with the help of storageand being ableto supply stable power with reactive componenttothe grid that can support the already fragile grid of thP. countrY &job creation potential has resulted Into a feeling of'PV being awinner In the solar race. In fact both the technologies cancomplement each other instead of competing by CSP adding theflexibility In the Grid to allow addition of more variable powersources like PV.

Financiers' unfamiliarity with CSP: Project developers havestruggled to achieve financial closure, a key milestone under theMission's guidelines. Although familiarity with solar (and CSP) I;Increasing. the Involvement of banks and other flnandalinstitutions is hindered by structural Issues (including powersector lending limits, financially stressed distribution companiesand their res ultlng Inability to pay for purchased power) andpractical challenges (market awareness and teChnologicalunderstanding).

Difficulty In Indlgenlzatlon: Escalating prices, rupee de-evaluation and limited supplies of key CSP components like heattransfer fluid (HTF), Receiver Tubes etc have posed challenges todevelopers. long lead-times and an inability by manufacturers tocommit to a firm delivery schedule have added to the uncertaintyover commissioning projects

P.1fI"PortBbir

We lack a support framework for CSP component suppliers In India. which Is available to PV by way of SIPS.Unless the policy comes up with II support mechanism like non discriminatory equipment productionsubsidies, provision of excise exemption for solar onty suppliers who cannot avail Cenvat credits; we cannotexpect indlgenitation and cost reduction.

Solar Power Pllnt Panel. It God ••• " Green Energy LimiWd (GGfL), RajIntMn, India.

Power plant development experience is provine valuabie: The experience of building solar energyfoundation Is proving valuable, espedally since CSP power-block structures are similar to thermal coal-fired power plants. Less experienced developers new to the power Industry have struggled to get projectsoff the ground. The Phase 1 guidelines require developers to at least work with experienced technology

.~ providers, but do not apply any rigid criteria regarding experience In CSP project development. This allowsthe playersto Invest and prepare for CSP plants.

The solutions that Phase 2 provides for the challenges will take the CSP technologies forward and ourb thedelays that happened In the Phase 1. The Phase 2 policies encourage CSP technologies along w~h othersolar technologies. CSP offers unique attributes to India's energy mix, Including supplementing base-loadrequirements, supplying adequate reactilA! power, supplying peak-load electricity, and ensuring gridstability. There should be an Increased Involvement during the project commiSSioning process toIndependently analyze the root causes of commissioning delays on a quarteriy basis, and determine whichunforeseeable delays merlt extensions. Additional support for this technology by way of. componentproduction incentrves, project subsidies coupled with deeper understanding as regards projectengineering, development and execution as compared to PV that has already traveled lts developmentpath as an Industry in India. The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) should establish a sub<ommitteeto fonmulate and implement best practices to overoome commissioning delays, Incorporating feedbackfrom all stakeholders. Ensuring that Phase 2 guidelines strike a balance between encouraging new playersto participate and attracting experienced developers can help maintain the requirement that selecteddevelopers work with experienced technology providers.

Godawari Green Energy Um~ed (GGEL) recelved the commissioning certificate from RREC, the RajasthanRenewal Energy Corporation tlmlted, for the first commercial scale Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plantof India. GGElrecelved the certificate on recommendation by a committee constituted by Rajasthan StateNodal Agency and authorized by the NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam limited (NWN); thus endorsing the..SOMW project to be officially and commercially operative with effect from 19th June 2013. Taking a giant'leap tow'"ds making eco·fiiendly energy in India, the CSP plant features state of the art parabolic trougn,the technology named Euro-trough SKAl ET-1S0. The plant Is capable of lighting 200,000 Indian homes,while simultaneously preserving the environment. With Its achievement, GGEL has been successful inbuilding a road to sustainable energy solutions for India.

Note:Defining roadmap •.111for concentrated solar power spedallssue will ceme on 7th September 2013Reference: Editorial 'Concentrated Solar Power', September 2012.India Map Raference , National Renewable Energy laboratory Map - lt'Sept 2010.

~hid;~tQ;i~~tr~i:utedin Chikmagalur districtmm;ontact witha liveelectricwirewhileinstallinga flagpole

..-Staff Correspondent

HASSAN:A 16-ycar-old stu-dent died and two others~ere injured when they came111 contact with a live electricwire while installing a tlag-pole for the inauguration of ablock-level rural sports meetat a government school inHolekoppa village of Sringeritaluk in Chikrnagalur districton Tuesday.

Karthik (16), a resident ofNaUur, came in contact with~he wire while handling anIron pole.

Ranjan (15), a Class 9 stu-dent and Anil (33), 1I residentof Holekoppa, suffered elec-tric shock when they rushedto Karthik's rescue, the po-lice said.

They were taken to a pri-vate hospital in Sringeri,where Karthik was declaredbrought dead. The other twohave been admitted to Kas-turba Hospital in Manipal fortreatme~t. Keshavarnurthy,the physical education train-er of the school, suffered aheart attack after he wit-nessed the incident. He wasalso taken to Manipal for

~~~~u~~~a~~:;~~~i~a~na~:~~:~~~:~:;.Ieft) talkingto aresidentofHolekoppavillag('at

treatment. The sports meetwas cancelled. Sringeri policehave registered a case.

CompensationUdupi Staff Correspond-

ent writesK. Abhuychandra Jain

Fisheries and Youth Service;said the State governmentwould provide compensationto the family of Karthik andthe others who sufferedburns and Keshava Murthy.

He was speaking to press-persons after inquiring aboutthe health of Ranjan, Anil andKeshava Murthy at KasturbaHospital in Manipal.

Mr. Jain said the govern-ment 'would ensure that elec-tric wires passing throughplaygrounds' were removedso that such an incident didnot recur.

He would visit Holekoppaon Wednesday and meet theaffected families, Mr. Jainsaid.

Kimmane Ratnakar, Pri-mary and Secondary Educa-tion Minister, said stepswould be taken to' removehigh tension and other elec-tric wires passing throughthe premises of primary andhigh schools;

Mr. Ratnakar visited Ran-

jan, Ani! and Keshava Mur- ithy at Kasturba Hospital. :

!ie said headmasters of Iprimary and high schoolswould-be told to meet the of-ficials o~ Electricity SupplyCompanies (ESCOMs) oft~eir areas and get high ten-sion and other electric wiresshifted out of the premises ofschools.

The Minister said he wouldissue a circular to ESCOMson Wednesday.

The medical expenses ofthose who had been admittedto the hospital would beborne by the government headded.' '

Again ro~1bV~rhydr~power projectsT. Ramakrishnan

CHENNAl:Yet again, the issueof hydro power' projectsacross the Cauvery river hascropped up. Since 1996, thetwo major parties to theCauvery dispute - Tamil Na-du and Karnataka - held var-ious rounds of discussion toimplement four hydro pow-.er projects across the river,two of which each are in thetwo States. The projects per-tained to the establishmentof four power plants, twoeach in Tamil Nadu (Rasi-manal: 360 MW [me~~ttJ,and Hogenakkal:120~and Karnataka' (Shivasamu-'

dram: 345 MW and Mekada-tu: 400 MW). Tamil' Naduhas been for the NationalHydro Power Corporation(NHPC) or any .Centralagency to set up the fourplants. The last time the twoStates had talks on the pro-jects was four years ago, inthe presence of officialsfrom the Union govern-ment. In August 2009, inone of the tripartite meet-ings in Chennai,both Statesstuck to their position. Theproportion of sharing ofelectricity generated .fromthe proposed plants and theinclusion of the Sliivasamu-dram plant were among the

-------_._----_ ..•

issues of contention be-tween the two sides.

In its final order [notifiedin February this year], theCauvery Water DisputesTribunal had referred to theproposed projects andstated that "whenever anysuch hydro power project isconstructed and Cauverywaters are stored in the res-ervoir, the pattern of down-stream releases should beconsistent with our order sothat the irrigation require-ments are notjeopardised."

As the final order did notseek to put hurdles to hydropower generation on theCauvery in general, many

viewed it as the Tribunal'sclearance for executing theprojects. Perhaps, keepingthis aspect in mind, Kama-taka's Law and Parliamen-tary Affairs Minister T.B.Jayachandra said two weeksago that he did not foreseeany legal problems in imple-menting the Mekadatu pro-ject.

But, the Tribunal is veryclear in its stipulation on thepattern of release of waterfrom any such hydel reser-voir. Besides, the final wordis yet to come from the Su-preme Court on the matterof execution of the hydropower projects.

ClassIX boy killed asi nflagpole touches HT wire

I ttJq)!y~y~CiiA~aLct.SRINGERI/MANIPAl: A stu-dent was killed instantlyand two others sufferedcritical injuries when aniron flagpole they were try-ing to erect came in contactwith a high-tension wirepassing through the groundat Holekoppa in Sringerltaluk in Chikmagalur districton Tuesday.

The students were trying toerect the iron flagpole for thetwo-day Pykka (PanchayatYuva Krida aur Khel Abhiyan)and Dasara sports meet.Karthik (15),a class 9 studentat Holekoppa GovernmentHigh School, was killed on thespot. A class 10 student, Ran-jan (16),and avillagerAniI(33)- who were standing close toKarthik, suffered critical in-juries.

The school's physical educa-tion teacher and taluk sportsofficer, Keshavmurthy (50),who witnessed the incident atclosequarters, suffered a heartattack. All the three wererushed to Manipal Hospital.

The deceased was the onlyson of his parents who becameinconsolable after learningabout the incident. Ranjan wasstaying with a relative to pur-sue his studies. The sportsmeet was cancelled followingthe incident.

Primary Education MinisterKimmane Ratnakar and MLAD N Jeevaraj visited the spot

and the victim's family.He an-nounced an immediate com-pensation of Rs 50,000 to thevictim's kin.

Wires may be shiftedMeanwhile, Minister forYouthServices and Sports Abhay-chandra Jain, who isaIsoChik-magalur district in-chargeminister, visitedthe KMCHos-pital in Manipal.

Quoting doctors, Jain saidRanjan and Anil were critical

but Keshavrnurthy was out ofdanger. He termed the inci-dent "most tragic" and an-nounced that the governmentwould bear the medical ex-penses of the three injured.

Jain also said he would holdtalks with the chief ministerand primary education minis-ter on taking steps to shifthigh-tension wires passingthrough schools and;;;PlaY-grounds in the State. -: /DH News service ./

·",l~fD :trvo1fltv £;"H'12.c-~5

Stop Karnatakas IllegalPower Project: Jaya to PMExpress News Service

Chennai: Lodginga strongprotest over Karnataka'splans to construct an 'illegal'hydro power project at Me-

, kedatu and three reservoirs: for this purpose across Cau-, very,ChiefMinisterJ .Iayala-; Iithaa has urged Prime Min-

ister Manmohan Singh to, prevent the neighbouring; state from proceeding with: it. Mekadatu is close to Bili-· gundulu, the entry point of· Cauveryinto Tamil Nadu, on· the inter-state border.

Jayalalithaa also asked thePrime Minister to direct theUnion Ministry of Environ-

: ment and Forests not to ac-• cord clearance to such 'ille-

gal' projects as it does not; have prior consent of Tamil; Nadu, the lower riparian· state.· "The proposal of Karnata-: ka is completely illegal and· is causing. gr~at ll~tlnd; apprehension illTIiffiiTNadu,; as it would affect the natural: flowofCauvery river consid-; erably and would severely• affect the irrigation in Tamil

Nadu. The proposed reser-voirs are new schemes notcontemplated in the finalorder of the Cauvery Tribu-nal. Besides, the Tribunalhad prescribed the totalquantity of water to be used

LThe proposed• hydro powerproject will severelyaffect the naturalflow of Cauvery Riverand the irrigation inTamil Nadu

- J JAYAlAUTHAA,TamIl Nadu ChIef IlinIstW

for consumptive use," Jay-alalithaa said in her letterdated September 2, to thePrime Minister.

In this connection, she re-ferred to media reports thatKarnataka has proposed toutilise the surplus water ofthe Hemavathy and theKrishnarajasagar reservoirsat an estimated cost of~500croreto eeoocrorefordrink-

ing water schemes. Shepointed outtbat her repeatedrequest to him to instruct theMinistry ofWater Resourcesto constitute the CauveryManagement Board and the ,Cauvery Wate'j-Regulation :Committee, for ensuring theeffective implementation ofthe final order of the Tribu-nal, was yet to be acceded to."In the absence of such amonitoring mechanism, the .stand of Karnataka Minister :that there is no impediment :to executing the scheme ofconstruction ofa reservoir asthe final order has been noti-fied is wholly untenable andis against all principles offederalism," she said andadded that in a federal struc-ture, no upper riparian statecould unilaterally interferewith the natural flow of aninter-state river without theconsent and concurrence ofthe lower riparian state.

She said Tamil Nadu hadfiled an interlocutory appli-cation in the SC to restrainKarnataka from executingthe Shivasamudram and Me-kedatu projects on its own.

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