Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Jul 6: It is learnt that Udupi Power Corporation Ltd, which has set up its thermal power generation plant at Ellur village near Padubidri, has commissioned its first unit and is expected to start generating power through its second unit soon, has sought the clearance of the union forest and environment ministry, to set up two more units, each with a capacity of 660 mw, here.

This application is expected to be taken up by a meeting of experts in the forest and environment ministry, to be held at New Delhi on July 8. If the expansion is permitted, the unit is expected to set up new units in the land already acquired for Cogentrix Company in the past, which extends till Hejmady village.

Nandikoor Janajagruti Samiti honorary president and NRI entrepreneur, Balakrishna Shetty, has expressed fears of additional impact the proposed project may have on the carrying capacity of the environment of the twin-districts including the damage to the Western Ghats. He has asked Madhav Gadgil, chairman of Western Ghats Biodiversity Study Network, to appraise the union forest and environment ministry of the adverse impact the proposal will have on the ecology and environment of the region.