One Power Plant

So in search of a story, for an assignment, about a community who is being affected negatively by technology we did some background search on the internet and read about a thermal power plant located in Mudrangadi, not very far from Manipal. We decided to go there and talk to people living near the power plant.

The Journey

We went to different locations to collect information about the problems that people of that place were facing due to the power plant. We mostly traveled by bus and sometimes by auto. We covered Mudrangadi the first day, four of us. The second time we went there, there were only two of us and we went to Yarmal and Nandikur. For us, Padubidri was our focal point for moving about everywhere. I was personally using Google Maps too for the navigation apart from asking directions.

Manipal > Udupi > Padubidri >   1> Mudrangadi

                                              2> Yarmal

                                              3> Nandikur

about the plant:

It is commonly known as UPCL which is Udupi Power Corporation Ltd.

It is also known as Lanco Udupi Coal Mega Power Plant.

Its old name is Nagarjuna Power Plant, the locals know it by that name too.

The plant is 6 years old though it started functioning from the last 2 years.

Mudrangadi  मुद्रांगड़ी 

We talked to a family that lives quite nearby to the power plant. Their house seemed nice, cozy and old with a well in front and a lush green veranda. They had numbers of croton plants planted in their veranda too that seemed old but well maintained. Everything seemed normal. We told them the purpose of our visit and they were glad to help. Their house is 50 years old and they used to have a Chiku tree that was 25 years old…it died an year ago. They have plenty of Areca nut (supari) trees, that no longer produce the areca nuts as the nut does not stay on the trees, they mostly fall off before ripening. Several times soot falls from the sky. The family is not experiencing any ill-effects on their health as of now 

due to the plant. They say that the water provided by their well has gone lower after the power plant was set up, 'decrease in the water table'. They show us their main gate which is probably made of iron and tell us that it was painted last year and it is already rusting. They tell us that this is the case with all the metals in this region, they rust very fast. We did notice a lot of heaps of metals rusting while walking around in Mudrangadi. 

Open Coal Transportation also takes place here quiet frequently. Though there is no one having a breathing problem due to the ash.

The entire area on which the power plant has been built used to be agricultural land. These lands belonged to farmers. At first, many of them were convinced into giving their lands and they did so generously. Later, there were many others who resisted giving up their farm lands but their lands were taken nonetheless forcefully.

Yarmal  यर्मल 

The localites here at Yarmal told us that the plant takes water from the sea through a huge pipeline. Then the power plant also disposes of dirty water back in the Arabian sea at Yarmal beach which is a nuisance to the communities living there while also harming the natural marine life and environment.

Sometimes there are leakages or the pipeline gets damaged and large amounts of salty sea water gets spilled and mixes with the natural ground water resource already present. This has happened several times to the extent that families living in this area can not use the wells they have been drawing water from since ages, in their ancestral homes. The ground water itself has become salty! During the rainy season which is little longer here in the south of Karnataka, the communities do not face any problem with regard to availability of fresh water. In the non-rainy season they have to travel kilometers (atleast five) to bring fresh water for their families. There are very few wells in the area that can still provide non-salty water. One of such wells is the Gram Panchayat’s well. Many families rely on it as the source of regular supply of drinking water but they still have to get water from other sources as fresh water is required for many purposes in the household.

Nandikur  नन्दीकुर 

We talked to a few people here, they told us the following. In the two years that the plant has been functioning, people living here have had health problems related to breathing due to the smoke the thermal power plant generates. Also, for the last one year the power plant has been a nuisance for the residents due to the amount of noise that it makes during the night.

Kerum  केरम 

Kerum is a place near Mudrangadi and Nandikur. We talked to few people who are from Kerum and know about it. They said that there are a lot of Coconut plantations there but now slightly smaller coconuts grow there and many times unripe coconuts also fall in a very un-natural way.

Conclusion

I do not have much to conclude about any of all this because I myself am left thinking that what can be done? Apart from proper pollution checks and maintenance checks and proper compensation to people who rightfully deserve it, how can the environment be protected? Where will electricity come from if we do not have power plants?...

Even still I do protest against the UPCL and I feel bad for all the communities whose daily lives are affected by this modern humongous infrastructure built for the needs of the growing urban numbers.