Society for Protection of Silent Valley v Union of India [unreported [UP Nos 2949 and 3025 of 1979 of Kerala High Court]

In the late 1970s, the silent valley project stirred up a hornet’s nest in India’s first major ‘environment versus development’ controversy. The proposed project, now abandoned, was to dam the Kuntipuzha river in Kerala’s Palghat district. As it flows through the valley, the Kuntipuzha drops 857 meters, making the valley an attractive site for generation of electricity. Environmentalists, on the other hand, asserted that as home to one of the few remaining rain forest in the Western Ghats, the valley ought to remain pristine. They further contended that with over 900 species of flowering plants and ferns and several endangered species of animals and birds, Silent Valley was on of the world’s richest biological and genetic heritages. He project was abandoned due to pressure exerted on Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, within the government and from international groups and governments.

A writ petition was filed before the Kerala High Court seeking to prevent the state government from constructing a hydroelectric project in Silent valley. The petition stated that the necessary deforestation would affect climatic condition in the state and would interfere with the balance of nature. Dismissing the petition, the court held that consideration of the scientific, technical and ecological concerns was the job of the government and that it was not for the courts to evaluate these considerations again as the evaluation had already been done by the government.