Residents of Talakalale fear displacement again due to Sharavathi pumped storage project
Shivamogga: Residents of Talakalale in Sagar taluk, Shivamogga district, are once again facing the threat of displacement, this time due to the proposed ₹8,644 crore Sharavathi Pumped Storage Hydropower Project. The very families whose forefathers were displaced five decades ago by the construction of the Talakalale dam now fear losing their homes, land, and livelihoods all over again.
The project, set to be established in the Simha Balda Singalika Wildlife Sanctuary, aims to generate 2,000 megawatts of power using water from the Talakalale and Gerusoppa reservoirs. If completed, it would be the largest pumped storage project in India. However, for local communities, it has become a source of growing anxiety.
Villagers from Henni, Marathi Camp, Gundibailu, and Jadagallu, located within the sanctuary limits, have reportedly received eviction notices. These areas had become a refuge for many who were earlier displaced by the Talakalale dam.
A team led by the Sagar sub-divisional officer has already begun identifying properties for acquisition. Around 12 homes in Marathi Camp and Gundibailu are being targeted. According to local officials, the National Wildlife Board gave in-principle approval for the project in its 84th Standing Committee meeting held in New Delhi under the chairmanship of Union Forest Minister Bhupender Yadav. Subsequently, three formal notices have been served to residents.
Local opposition and demands for fair compensation
During a public meeting convened by Sagar MLA Gopalakrishna Belur, villagers expressed serious concerns about the inadequacy of the proposed compensation. Many farmers demanded that compensation be based on crop value rather than mere land area.
Santosh, a resident of Marathi Camp and one of the affected farmers, said, “I have over 500 areca nut trees. If compensation is calculated based on yield, I should be getting nearly ₹2 crore. But officials say this is forest land and we won’t get that much.”
He added that if the government cannot even provide jobs or alternative housing for 11 displaced families in a project worth thousands of crores, then the state’s promise rings hollow. Residents are demanding scientific compensation that includes housing, employment for their children, and protection of existing agricultural land and homes.
Manjunath, another resident, pointed out that the government was not giving them accurate information. “We pay taxes and have title deeds. Still, we are being told to vacate. Eleven households have already received notices,” he said.
Shivanand, the son of Santosh and an SSLC graduate, added that due to financial difficulties, he had to discontinue his education. “We are losing the property built by our ancestors. At night, we can’t even sleep peacefully. Officials have started marking trees around our homes.”
MLA assures employment but fails to convince
MLA Gopalakrishna Belur stated that only around 8 acres of land belonging to local people would be used for the project and that minimal damage would be caused to private property. He assured that affected families would be offered jobs in the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL). However, villagers remain unconvinced, saying they will pursue legal action if their demands are not met.
Environmentalists raise alarm over forest destruction
Environmental groups and activists have also strongly opposed the project. The Singalika Wildlife Sanctuary is home to over 700 lion-tailed macaques, a species not found in such large numbers in any other reserve in India. The project requires 352.77 acres of land, of which 133.81 acres fall under forest area. Conservationists fear that the project will pose a serious threat to biodiversity in the Western Ghats, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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FIDE Women's World Cup final: Humpy draws with Divya in first game
Batumi (Georgia), Jul 26 (PTI): Young Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh held her nerves to hold stalwart Koneru Humpy to a draw in game 1 of the FIDE Women's World Cup final, with both players having their share of opportunities to take the lead here on Saturday.
The draw with black means Humpy, the two-time World Rapid champion, holds a slight edge going in the second and final game under the classical chess rules in the two-game mini-match, and should the deadlock continue, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.
Humpy employed the Queen's gambit accepted as black and it turned out to be a pretty fascinating game right out of the opening as Divya, 19, came up with a piece sacrifice early to deny the black king the right to castle.
Humpy was the first to err and, according to computers, Divya had things under control on the 14th move. However in her bid to recover the extra material, the Nagpur girl, who has secured a place in the Candidates tournament with her sterling performance here, missed a promising continuation.
What followed the exchange of all minor pieces and the ensuing queen and rook endgame gave enough counter play to both players. The game was eventually drawn after Humpy sacrificed her rook to force perpetual checks.
"The game saw an extremely sharp battle with the game ending in a draw in 41 moves. On move 7, Divya made her aggressive intentions clear by offering another pawn,
which looked like home preparation. Humpy made a practical decision of refraining from taking the pawn and a balanced position was reached by move 10 by white," said Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, an Arjuna awardee and the first Indian to get a chess Grandmaster norm.
"However, instead of developing the undeveloped Knight, Humpy retreated the centralised Knight on move 10, giving huge positional advantage to Divya. Divya could have gained huge positional advantage on the 12th move by moving a rook. However, she chose to play for King side attack by sacrificing a piece instead.
"Humpy, too, erred at this stage and instead of moving the King to Queen side, moved it to the King side. Divya, on move 14, could have obtained a crushing attack by threatening a mate by developing her Queen. Instead she chose to exchange a pair of Bishops first, which enabled Humpy to defend her King by returning the piece," said Thipsay.
"Players thus reached a balanced Queen and two Rooks ending. Divya continued to play ambitiously and tried to attack Humpy’s King but the latter defended accurately and the game was drawn in 41 moves by perpetual check," he added.
In the play-off for the third place, Chinese players Zhongyi Tan, the former women's world champion and top seed Lei Tingjie also decided to split points out of a Queen’s gambit declined game.
The opening raised visions of a close contest between the two but having been knocked out of title race in the previous round, none of them wanted to take any huge risk. It was still a middle game when the players shook hands.
With the top two positions sealed for the Indians, the berth to the next Candidates is also assigned, while the player finishing third will also get an entry to the premier event scheduled for 2026.
Results: Divya Deshmukh (Ind) drew with Koneru Humpy (Ind); Zhongyi Tan (Chn) drew with Tingjie Lei (Chn).
