KG Kumar Last week, the Union Minister for Environment, Mr Jairam Ramesh, told journalists in Kochi that Athirapally, the site of the proposed 163 MW, Rs 675-crore hydroelectric power project, is another Silent Valley, rich in biodiversity, which needs to be protected, and that the State should look for alternative proposals for power generation. The implication is that the Centre will go back on earlier clearances for the hydel project. The Minister said that the permission issued earlier for the project was withdrawn after he assumed office. The State Government has also been asked to stop all work related to the project until an expert committee for approval looks into the issue, he said. The Athirapally hydel project is planned 35 km east of Chalakudy town, across the Chalakudy river, along the Chalakudy-Anamalai inter-State highway in the Vazhachal forest division of Thrissur district. The project got the first clearance from the Central Government in 1998, which was challenged legally by environmentalists. In 2005, after a fresh environment impact study, it was cleared again. The Kerala High Court intervened and asked the Kerala State Electricity Board for a fresh clearance, which it got for a third time in 2007. Environmentalists claim that Athirapally is a one-of its-kind riparian ecosystem in Kerala. The proposed project will affect 138.6 ha of forestland, dry up the Athirapally waterfall and affect tribal families living in the area, particularly settlements of the Kadar tribe, comprising around 80 families. V.S. Vijayan, Chairman of the Kerala State Biodiversity Board and former Director of the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), Coimbatore, has been quoted in Down to Earth magazine as affirming that the Vazhachal forest division is the second most biodiverse area in the State. The International Bird Association has declared it an