When you think about your childhood days, maybe, you might recollect some of those events, not necessarily personal,yet,those still sticks with you with vivid clarity. One such story for me ,was that of Silent Valley and the challenges it faced during the late seventies and early eighties.
During those days ,I was much into the literature from Kerala Shastra Sahitya Parishad. Science, Nature, Modern thoughts, all were getting bombarded into the mind on a daily basis. The penchant for reading was so unstoppable that virtually even meals were skipped the moment a new book was available to read.
Silent Valley is a special nature-rich tropical forest situated in Palakkad ,Kerala, On the foot Hills of Western Ghatts, close to the tribal belt of Attappadi. The area was far remote that there was hardly any human habitat in the vicinity.
Protected by the nature from the greedy eyes of humans, Silent Valley had evolved into a complete ecosystem, with a flora and fauna, unmatched anywhere in the world.
It is home to many rare species and is the only place for many of such yet to be extinct ones. It is also one of the greatest continuous stretches you can get, amongst the rain forests of western ghats.
Way back in late 70s ,when I was just learning the first alphabets , Kerala was found wanting in the power required for the consumption of the entire state. Unlike other states, kerala had a large number of upwardly mobile class of people living in villages, who were well aware of their rights and hence had higher expectations of their living standards. That also meant the electrification in Kerala had to happen simultaneously in villages and cities as villages boasted of more electrical/electronic products than cities.(because of the Gulf boom).
The north kerala, known as Malabar was lagging when it comes to electricity as bulk of the power was produced from the newly built Idukki power station in the south. Because of the transmission losses it was unthinkable to transmit the power to feeders in Malabar. Hence the only option they felt was to set up a Hydel Power station in North Kerala itself and they Chose Silent Valley, through which the very Kunthi puzha , a rich reservoir of water, was flowing all though the year.
The freelancers and mavericks amongst the scientist community took on this threat tooth and nail. The Shastra Sahitya Parishad took a strong stand which helped spreading awareness and gave an air or scientific rational to back the protest.
Noted literati figures lead by eminent poet Sugatha Kumari were in the fore front of the agitation. The importance of preserving nature was made aware via various agitations and stage shows.
Noted were the activism shown by famous ornithologist Salim Ali.Much of Parishad Publications had carried articles authored by the respectable yet down to earth luminaries who were mostly science teachers and professors..I was privy to their articles, which of course have set in me the right mindset towards generating interest in science and logic.
Rest is history, the Govt and the Development at any cost - lobby had to relent as a series of court verdicts slowed down the developmental project. Later the center govt passed resolutions barring any development activities in the Valley declaring it as a national park.
I vividly remember the sarcastic reference to the protesters made ,as they were fighting for the cause of "Simhavalan Kurangu" (Lion-tailed Macaque)
Now spotted as one of the richest rain forests in world, Silent Valley and its 90 square kilometers is the pride of Kerala. (You may build your Smart City with in two years. But to create another Silent Valley? It is hardly possible, humanly!)
PS: I see the the young ones of the modern era substantially miss these Parishad literature, which was the hall mark of vibrant young enthusiastic children of our times. Here is a samply copy of Eureka - their publication for children between 7-12 yrs of age. They have 'Thalir' for even younger ones and "Shashtra Keralam" and"Shastra Gathi" for elders.
Click Here to Read a typical eureka edition
