Centre rethinking clearance granted to Orissa's Brutanga irrigation project?
Priscilla Jebaraj
The Union government is reportedly having second thoughts about the forest clearance granted to the Brutanga irrigation project in Nayagarh district of Orissa, largely due to concerns over the submergence of a key elephant corridor.

The project was discussed again by the Forest Advisory Committee on Friday, according to sources at the meeting. They suggested that protests against the submergence of the elephant corridor and the possible adverse impact on local wildlife and tribal communities were discussed.

Interestingly, the original clearance for the project was announced on the same day of the release of the Project Elephant task force report, which had emphasised the importance of safeguarding elephant corridors. That was also the day Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh rejected the forest clearance for Vedanta Aluminium's controversial Niyamgiri mine.

Centre not biased

In fact, the Brutanga project, which the Environment Ministry considered and approved over a span of just six months, has been Mr. Ramesh's poster boy case to prove that the Centre is not biased against Orissa. In the wake of decisions against the Vedanta and Posco, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had complained that the Ministry was prejudiced against his non-Congress government.

In response, Mr. Ramesh has been emphasising that while his Ministry cleared the Brutanga project in a jiffy, the State government took 10 years to apply for a clearance, implying that it did not care about its own farmers, but only about large corporate projects.

Now it appears that the Ministry may be rethinking the project it cleared at such speed.

“The Brutanga project will destroy the route regularly used by elephants,” says Shivaji Naik, an activist with the Wild Orissa NGO, which has been campaigning against the project.

The Ministry's order granting forest clearance included a large number of conditions intended to safeguard the wildlife, such as building overpasses to allow elephants to cross the canal.

However, Mr. Naik cites wildlife experts who say that the construction of artificial barriers has not proved to be a feasible solution for elephant movement in the country.

The NGO says the proposed submergence area falls adjacent to the Baisipalli Wildlife Sanctuary. A study team found that both the submergence area and the canal that will connect the Brutanga and Kuanria Reservoirs are being regularly used by elephants during their transit across the Mahanadi each summer.

“If the elephants' pathway is blocked, they would not be able to mix and breed with populations on both sides of the river, affecting genetic balance. The corridor is also used by tigers, sambar and many birds, says the Wild Orissa.

Water scarcity

Mr. Naik also warns that since Brutanga is not a perennial river, the project would cause water scarcity in the Baisipalli Wildlife Sanctuary and in the tribal villages dotting the forests of the region. With elephants confused by the blocking of their traditional route, there would be a danger of more man-animal conflicts, he says.