Shankar Sharma
The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) should straight away reject forest clearance (FC) for the 2000 MW Sharavathi Pumped Storage Project (PSP) in Karnataka.
The Sharavathi PSP proposal for clearing about 15,000 mature/ high value trees in Western Ghats is absolutely shocking. This will be happening in a tropical rainforest of Western Ghats in and around a protected area (PA), at a time when the forest and tree cover in the country is only about 22 percent against the national forest policy target of 33 percent.
NEED FOR ECO-SANITY
The Sharavathi PSP proposal should be viewed with great concern in the larger context of ecological sanity and climate change for the country as a whole. Hence, there is a critical need for Forest Advisory Committee MoEF & CC to diligently address a large number of troubling issues, such as the ones below that has been raised by a large number of environmentalists and NGOs.
ECOLOGICAL ISSUES ARISING
THESE ISSUES ARE:
- No substantiation/ evidence has been provided by KPCL, the project proponent to argue that this proposal in an LTM Sanctuary is necessary/ critical for the true welfare of the flora and fauna of the sanctuary.
- The Wildlife Protection Act specifically prohibits any human intervention in a wildlife sanctuary (WLS) unless the same contributes to the true welfare of the flora and fauna in that WLS.
- Under no stretch of even our wild imagination can anyone assume that such a large-scale destruction of thick natural forest within a WLS can benefit flora and fauna in that WLS; instead, the same can only destroy thousands of such species.
- There is a better alternative, techno-economically, to achieve the stated objective of this project proposal, i.e. Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), which comes with additional benefits, and without harming a single tree, but not diligently considered by Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (KPCL).
- Deputy Inspector General of Forests, Praneeta Paul, Regional Offices, MoEF & CC, Bengaluru, after inspecting the Sharavathi LTM Wildlife Sanctuary in May 2025, has unambiguously recommended against this project proposal, citing disproportionate ecological fallout, and listing 14 critical concerns.
- It is unthinkable that FAC/ MoEF & CC will ignore/ reject such a clear recommendation from its own high ranking domain specialist.
- Currently, the application is for the diversion of 42.51 ha of forest land and 60.534 ha non-forest land in a legally protected PA and 11.645 ha forest land and 28.074 ha non-forest land from ESZ around this sanctuary.
- KPCL has intentionally left out the equally important and extensive area of thick natural forest land for building suitable capacity power line in the same terrain to evacuate the power produced and for bringing power needed to pump the water from the lower reservoir to the upper reservoir.
- As per an existing order of the Supreme Court, seeking to divert additional forest area for building a power line, subsequent to obtaining clearances for the main project, will be against the principle of “fait accompli” as enunciated by the apex court.
- As per a communication of 5th July 2023 by KPCL, Shivamogga, the diversion of 58.8 hectares of forest land in the same area, will have to be approved to build/ expand/ enhance the power evacuation lines, if and only if this project is taken up for execution.
- Also, it is clear that these associated power line works and the diversion of forest lands will be essential, without which the proposed project cannot function.
- Hence, the non-compliance of the principle of “fait accompli” as enunciated by the Supreme Court, must be a critical factor in denying the Forest Clearance for the project proposal.
- A diligent analysis of all the associated technical, financial, environmental and social issues associated with this project, along with the ‘Costs and Benefits Analysis’ will clearly indicate total costs to our society will be many times the meagre benefits of the project.
- The need for more power can be effectively realized by a much benign option of BESS, as mentioned above.
- Compensatory afforestation in place of such a high value and vast expanse of tropical rain forest is impossible to be realized elsewhere in the state, for the simple reason that the vacant/ degraded land suitable to raise such a thick natural forest cannot be found in other parts of the state.
- Additionally, the very concept of Compensatory Afforestation has been questioned by many domain experts, since there is no evidence of effectively implementing the same in place of hundreds of sq kms of natural forest lands diverted so far from Western Ghats in the state since independence.
CLARION CALL FOR FC REJECTION
The serious consequences of the massive number of trees to be destroyed under the Sharavati PSP should be objectively viewed in the overall context of the request for Forest Clearance for thousands of trees from scores of such PSP proposals and other linear project proposals in the Western Ghats and elsewhere.
In view of continuing and umpteen concerns already expressed to EAC/ NBWL/ FAC and through many public representations, this project proposal is associated with enormous costs to the society, as compared to meagre benefits.
My appeal to Member Secretary, Members, and Chairperson, Forest Advisory Committee, MoEF & CC, the Forest Clearance for Sharavathi PSP should be summarily rejected.
(Shankar Sharma is a power and climate policy analyst, based in Sagar district, Karnataka.)