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Athirappilly is a first grade Panchayati raj with 489.00 km2 area in Chalakudy Taluk, Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is located 60 km from Thrissur city, 70 km northeast of Cochin city, 55 km northeast of Cochin International Airport, and 30 km from Chalakudy town.
The Wildlife Trust of India says it represents one of India's best elephant conservation efforts. "Any disruption to this fragile ecosystem will spell disaster," says Vijayan.
"Arjuna Arjuna" song featuring Sarathkumar and Namitha was shot in this location. The rain song ("Adada Mazhaida") Tamil movie featuring Karthi and Tamannaah, was shot at the Athirappilly waterfalls in Kerala. Punnagaimannan and captain prabakaran also shot here. Karthi and Anushka Shetty movie Alex Pandian’s Anushka Shetty kidnap scene was shot in Athirappilly.
On 29 January 2011, the chairman of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) Madhav Gadgil opined that the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Athirappilly hydel power project was not properly carried out and 70% of it is bogus. The panel, appointed by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, was asked to look into and give recommendations on various projects in the Western Ghats such as the hydroelectric projects in Gundiya in Karnataka and Athirappilly in Kerala and the overall development projects in Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra. Gadgil said that the proposed Athirappilly hydro-electric project cannot be approved until the Forest Rights Act is implemented in its true spirit for the Kadar tribal community of the area and also no comprehensive study had been carried out so far on the natural riparian forest vegetation along the Western Ghats. "Kadar's community rights not recognised: Gadgil " The Hindu, 30 January 2011. "70% of EIA report bogus, says Gadgil." The Hindu, 31 January 2011. "Fears on Athirappilly EIA proved true, says Viswom." The Hindu, 1 February 2011. On 14 June 2011, Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh said his ministry would not grant approval to the Athirappilly hydro electric project. "No nod to power project and stadium in Kerala: Ramesh" Business Standard, 14 June 2011. The Minister also stated "When states are denied such projects on larger and long-term environmental considerations, they are entitled to some sort of green bonus," "Athirappilly project: Ramesh moots green bonus" IBNLive, 14 June 2011. The first part of WGEEP report was submitted to the Ministry on 31 August. The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), on 6 September 2011 recommended to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests against granting permission to carry out any construction activities at the sensitive Athirappilly-Vazhachal region. The panel, which submitted its report to Union Environment Minister Jayanti Natarajan in the Capital, named Athirappilly as one of the 18 eco-sensitive localities in the state. "Athirappilly Project to remain a pipe dream" IBNLive,8 September 2011.
A former member of KSEB with generation project, K Radhakrishnan, opined that WGEEP report was biased and the project was eco-friendly doing minimum damage to environment and forests, and with the lack of computational model when rainfall is decreasing by the effect of El Niño. "Panel report on Athirapally project biased -K Radhakrishnan" - , The Hindu, 1 January 2012 Former KSEB official lashes out at report - The Hindu, 27 September 2012 Electricity Pensioners Welfare Association a forum of senior power personnel of Kerala headed by K Radhakrishnan viewed the Gadgil panel report as unproductive and overly concerned about environmental issues. "Gadgil panel report biased -Electricity Pensioners Welfare Association" - The Hindu. 29 October 2013 Of late The Central Water commission has given approval to the project if the project doesn't affect the ecological balance, could maintain a flow for the waterfalls without defacing it or doesn't bring out any socio-cultural disputes. In 2016, Kerala Chief minister and Minister for power, Pinarayi Vijayan has indicated that they will consider implementation of the project disregard of the public opinion that rises from emotional sentiment. Environmental activists opposing the project and even by Left sympathizers, criticized the government's proceedings, for making public announcements in the cabinet without any consensus on the issue and it shouldn't be based on winning any previous grudge or proving judgmental validity. When first the project came forward Communist party of Kerala was against this project and surveys conducted among people by television channels also polled negative response. The hydel project is also reported to be anti-people and only would harm the state's interest when it takes away water from an existing irrigation system, which covers 20,000 acres of farmland downstream and about 5 lakh people reportedly depend upon the river for drinking and irrigation purposes. But experienced and retired inclined members of KSEB like K. Radhakrishnan, who have been campaigning for the implementation of the Athirappilly hydroelectric project for long has welcomed the decision. Power Survey Report estimate the state's power requirement to reach at 6500 MW by 2022. Energy expert hails the Government stand The Hindu, 30/05/2016 Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forest T M Manoharan, who was the Chairman of the Kerala State Electricity Board opposed the project citing the harm it could cause to the environment and ecology of the area. Other studies for the feasibility of the project was also negative like the report in 2007 by B S Vijayan, Kerala State Biodiversity Board also pointed out that the power project would adversely affect the ecology of the area. Jairam Ramesh, Former Environment Minister said this decision to be a "perfect recipe for ecological disaster."
According to a KSEB member and former executive engineer Augustine Xavier opined that ideally the state's annual per capita consumption should be 5000 units (kWh). For this to be achieved, the state power consumption should increase to 1,65,000 million units yearly. At the moment, the state's yearly consumption is just over 23,000 million units. In this scenario a mere 200 million units will be like a drop in the ocean. M. Sivasankar, KSEB chairman and MD said the crisis could be amended through the commissioning of a 2000 MW super thermal power station, which uses an environment-friendly super critical boiler. 1200-MW Cheemeni Power Project is such a stalled project pending implementation studies and lobbying central government with development requirements. Reports and public polls is in consensus with seeking alternative sources for achieving a semblance of self-sufficiency in terms of electricity requirements than investing time and money on nonstrategic myopic hydel projects.
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