Temperature rises in Vadodara village over thermal plant

Irked over the Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited’s (GUVNL) proposal to set up a 1,000 mw thermal power plant in Surasamal village of Sinor Taluka in Vadodara district, a group of farmers from the area have submitted a petition to Vadodara District Collector Vijay Nehra.

In the memorandum, the farmers have questioned the logic as well as the need for setting up the plant in the village. Hasu Kasur Patel, the Sarpanch of Sursamal village said: “Our village has a lot of greenery. There is a good agricultural produce every year along with diary farming. We are afraid that this project will not only devastate our lives, but will also hamper the ecological balance of the region.”

When asked about the land in question, Patel said: “About 80 to 100 farmers will lose their land because of this project. We understand that GUVNL has chosen this place as the project site because of it’s proximity to the Narmada, which is only 1 km away. In our memorandum, we have even advised the Government to set up the proposed power plant at Rajpardi in Bharuch district because of it’s proximity to the lignite mines.”

P H Rana, Director (Technical) GUVNL, meanwhile, denied knowledge of any such protest by the farmers. “The proposal to set up a 1,000 MW power plant in Surasamal has been approved by our board for the most part. Now the technical committee will prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) on this,” he said.

“After that, we will approach the Gujarat Pollution Control Board for the Environment Impact Assessment. Following this, public hearings will be organised to satisfy the apprehensions of the concerned villagers. Although, no such protest by the Surasamal farmers has been brought to our notice so far,” he added.