One of the UMPP has been proposed near the Gangadevankuppam village of Kancheepuram. The project got a fillip in 2008 from the then DMK government. This project has given rise to apprehension among the farming community in the area. The region, in fact, looks abundant in natural resources, including the presence of lagoons, estuaries and a reserved forest. A complex system of water bodies, both natural and artificial, with as many as 80 lakes, dot the area around which the plant is supposed to come up. More importantly, the area is filled with sand dunes almost every few meters. The presence of mangroves also makes it an ecologically sensitive zone. According to villagers, they have not been given information regarding the project. A public hearing held in 2010 for the plant was also hurriedly concluded without taking into account their views. In spite of this the Expert Appraisal Committee recommended clearance for the project to the Ministry of Environment [2, 3].

Fishermen in Panaiyur Periakuppam village, where the captive coal jetty for the plant would be situated, fear that the project would completely destroy their livelihood. A port is expected to come up between the village and its neighbouring hamlet occupying shorefront of 650 meters. The coal stockyard will hold 310,000 tonnes of coal and would be built on an 83-acre land. The villagers have challenged the clearance given to the coal jetty in the National Green Tribunal and say they would do the same for the power project. Interestingly, the plant and coal jetty are proposed to be set up 6 km apart [2,3].

The port will occupy a 650 meter shorefront.

A coal stocking yard capable of storing 310,000 tonnes of coal will be constructed on 83 acres of coastal land abutting the two fishing villages. A 6.5 km conveyor belt running over dunes, fields, orchards, densely wooded areas and water bodies would carry the coal to the power plant. Various documents provide varying figures -- between 415 and 489 hectares -- for the land requirements of the power plant and its ash dyke.

The Ministry of Power aims to develop the UMPPs on a Build Own Operate (BOO) basis, through the Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC), a public sector unit. For the Cheyyur project, PFC has set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) called the Coastal Tamil Nadu Power Limited, based in New Delhi. The SPV is solely meant to acquire land, perform the EIA, obtain the various clearances and hand over the project to a private party who wins the bid for the project, thus saving the private party the trouble of land acquisition, impact assessment, public consultation and environmental clearances [3].