The Shramik Mukti Sangathana, Murbad, and project-affected persons have slammed the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) for its 'short-sighted' decision to clear Kalu dam in Thane district involving 1,000 hectares of forests in the Western Ghats. The FAC under the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) has gone back on its April 2, 2012 decision of rejecting forest clearance to Kalu dam. It reconsidered the project and in its last meeting on April 3-4, 2013, and recommended the project for forest clearance (FC). "The FAC has done it when all the illegalities and irregularities from the project proponent still stand entirely unaddressed today," said Parineeta Dandekar, co-convener of South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRAP). The project falls within 10 km from Kalsubai sanctuary. The project proponent states that only 89,177 trees will be felled, but this is a big number in Western Ghats. In a submission to union environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan on April 25, SANDRAP and PAPs have requested not to grant forest clearance to Kalu dam due to several procedural and legal irregularities on the part of the project proponent and also the FAC. On April 2, 2012, the FAC had rejected this proposal, raising substantial points and closed the file. The same FAC cleared the proposal one year later ignoring communities facing displacement and various groups working to save Western Ghats ecology and the forests. The project proponent Konkan Irrigation Development Corporation and water resources department has not been able to respond in credible way to any of the points raised by the FAC, forest department and affected villagers or civil society organisations. KIDC had submitted to MoEF that ""it is not necessary to construct any new water source till 2031."" This was submitted to the MoEF while seeking Stage-I FC for Shai dam, less than 25 km from proposed Kalu dam in 2010-11. The FAC recommended clearance to Shai dam based on this assurance. ""This is completely misleading,"" says Dandekar. There is no such plan available in public domain, nor has there been any participatory process of approval of the plan with the affected people. A claim of a rehabilitation package of Rs 68.75 crore does not constitute a rehabilitation plan, said SANDRAP. Dandekar said no gram sabha resolutions have been passed supporting the project. However, project proponent has claimed that it has secured resolutions from eight villages out of the 11, that will be fully or partially submerged by the dam. However, Shramik Mukti Sangathana, which has filed a PIL against the project, has letters from 10 GPs out of these 11 stating that they have not issued any such resolutions at any stage. "We would like to reiterate that no options assessment about water supply options to Mumbai has been done. Why consideration of rainwater harvesting, using saline water for some uses, grey water recycling, demand management, water use efficiency, and conjunctive groundwater are not considered,"" said Dandekar. Major issues about Kalu Dam
* Lives and livelihoods of about 18,000 people will be affected by this project. Petition against Kalu dam is in the Bombay high court.
* Forest (Conservation) Act (FCA) violated by starting construction of the project in the absence of FC when the project is to submerge nearly 1,000 hectares of land in a biodiversity hotspot.
* Project rejected earlier as it would submergence 18 villages and their connectivity.
* Location of the dam within 7 km of a protected area (PA) and eco-sensitive Western Ghats. Over 90,000 trees will be felled.
* Non-furnishing of rehabilitation plan, EIA, technical report on wildlife status, gram sabha resolutions about compliance of Forest Rights Act (FRA).
* Lives and livelihoods of about 18,000 people will be affected by this project. Petition against Kalu dam is in the Bombay high court.
* Forest (Conservation) Act (FCA) violated by starting construction of the project in the absence of FC when the project is to submerge nearly 1,000 hectares of land in a biodiversity hotspot.
* Project rejected earlier as it would submergence 18 villages and their connectivity.
* Location of the dam within 7 km of a protected area (PA) and eco-sensitive Western Ghats. Over 90,000 trees will be felled.
* Non-furnishing of rehabilitation plan, EIA, technical report on wildlife status, gram sabha resolutions about compliance of Forest Rights Act (FRA).