Uproar over tree felling for Rs 15,000-crore Torrent Power hydro project at Saidongar in Karjat

The sound of saws echoes in the Saidongar forest in Karjat taluka, and the state's politics is heating up along with it. Gujarat-based Torrent Power has proposed a Rs 15,000-crore hydroelectric project at Pali Tarf Kotwal Khalati. Villagers, environmentalists and Opposition leaders are angry over it. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis says the project is necessary for clean energy and that the Opposition is only playing politics.

The project will need 640 hectares of forest land and 230 hectares of private land. Farmers and villagers in the area strongly oppose it. Locals say the trees now being felled on the forest land had been planted and nurtured by the villagers themselves through voluntary labour. They are anguished that the same trees in the submergence area are now being destroyed.

Allegations have also been made about the timing of the felling. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reportedly likely to come on November 3 for the foundation-stone laying of the project, and he may make an aerial survey of the site. It is alleged that the company and the administration therefore felled the trees in haste so that no obstacle would be visible. Trees a hundred years old in the Saidongar forest are said to be cut with electric cutters, with workers engaged to haul away the logs.

Aaditya Thackeray, a leader of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction), visited the spot and registered his opposition to the felling. Angered that six to seven lakh trees are to be cut, he sharply criticised Fadnavis and asked whether the government wanted to turn Maharashtra into a desert. "Are you generating megawatts or destroying Maharashtra? Development must be sustainable," he said, and demanded a transparent public hearing for the villagers. Mocking the government for spending Rs 500 crore on advertising to create a false picture, he said the local MLA had favoured the greed of companies over public interest. He also announced that he would stand firmly behind the local people who are protesting. MNS chief Raj Thackeray is to visit the site on Wednesday, and the opposition could grow further.

Vijay Wadettiwar, leader of the Congress legislature party, attacked the project. He linked it to the felling of forest over about 600 acres in the Bhimashankar area. He alleged that forests are being destroyed for Gujarat's industrialists. He asked why so much forest should be cleared for a Gujarat company's project and why barren land was not chosen. He also questioned the Chief Minister's promise to plant 90,000 trees, asking whether new saplings can immediately make up for the biodiversity of the old forest being cut today. He said the area has wildlife such as the Indian giant squirrel (shekru) and is the source of several rivers. Warning that the ecological balance would be disturbed and that the effects would be far-reaching, he said he would launch an agitation.

Actor Sayaji Shinde took a harder line. He said not a single tree should be cut for any project. He asked who would do justice to the 50 species of fish in the river, the snakes and birds such as eagles. Calling on Maharashtra to unite to oppose such projects on behalf of wildlife, he made an emotional appeal to the Chief Minister not to sign memorandums of understanding with companies that harm nature. He said development must happen without cutting a single tree.

Congress MLA Satyajeet Tambe pointed to double standards. He said trees are being slaughtered at Bhimashankar for projects and in Nashik for Kumbh Mela works. But he alleged that the ambitious Pune-Nashik direct railway line is being blocked because it might affect four "umbrellas". "What kind of justice in development is this?" he asked. Saying the railway line is an important link that would speed up connectivity, industry, trade and employment in North Maharashtra, he asked when the development of the common man would get priority.

Fadnavis has rejected the criticism. He refuted all the points raised by the Opposition and said they were merely playing politics. Questions about the project's environmental impact grew after news that the Forest Department had approved the felling of 32,490 trees in the Sahyadri forest for Torrent Power's 3,000 MW pumped storage project at Saidongar. Defending the project, Fadnavis said that generating 3,000 MW from coal-fired thermal plants would cause pollution equal to that of 40 lakh vehicles on the road. He said thermal power generation needs 19 billion cubic feet of water every year, which the pumped storage project would save.

He put his argument before the media. Maharashtra has built large solar power capacity, but solar supply drops after 5 pm, just when demand rises. If that demand is met by coal-fired thermal power, pollution increases, so clean energy from pumped storage is necessary, he said. He added that Maharashtra is becoming a hub of pumped storage projects and that such projects are needed to meet the growing energy needs of industry. He claimed that 28 crore fully grown trees would have to be planted to offset the pollution from 3,000 MW of thermal power. He said clean energy from this project would reduce the need for thermal generation and avert pollution.

On the villagers' concerns, Fadnavis said that if the project affects the livelihoods of locals, their views would be heard and a way out found. The conflict is now clear. The government says the project saves water and cuts pollution. Villagers, wildlife lovers and the Opposition say a hundred-year-old forest cannot be made good with saplings.