Cheyyur, Kodai birding hotspots at risk, say experts

Cheyyur is the site of a 4000 MW Ultra Mega Power Plant, and the Pambar Shola forests that are part of the Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary will be affected unless Unilever undertakes a world-class clean-up of its mercury contaminated factory site, said experts, at a press conference in the city.

They also highlighted the Tamil Nadu section from the 2nd edition of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas of India” published by Bombay Natural History Society in 2014, where a study of birds in the Odiyur Lagoon in Cheyyur identified 77 bird species, including winter migrants that had flown in from the Arctic. Eight of the species identified belonged to “vulnerable” or “near threatened” category of birds. 

Lead author of the volume and noted wildlife scientist Dr. Asad Rahmani said that birds are an important indicator of biodiversity. “Through this book, we wish to highlight the importance of protecting important bird habitats such as grasslands, wetlands and forests all of which are currently under threat due to unplanned industrialisation, urbanisation and pollution.”

Activists are concerned that Cheyyur, where the government has identified the edges of the lagoon, as a site for the coal-fired power plant and with a coal ash dump and captive port in the vicinity, which could threaten this biodiversity spot. They pointed out that the statutory Environmental Impact Assessment for the project denies the existence of any ecologically sensitive sites in the project area and declares that there are no places or routes used by migratory species such as birds. 

Speaking to DT Next, Pooja Kumar, researcher with Coastal Resource Centre, said, “In more than 500 biodiversity and birding hotspots identified across the country, 36 of these are found in Tamil Nadu. The criteria include the abundant number of birds found here, which are on the endangered list of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In Cheyyur, the location where the power plant is proposed, will be degraded due to the fly ash pollution. In Ennore, after the power plants were set up, there was a huge decline in the number of birds in the locality. Locations like Cheyyur, which serves as a location for migratory and endemic species and have to be protected.”