Representative image.
| Photo Credit: LAKSHMI NARAYANAN E
A group of environmental activists, concerned citizens, and the villagers have appealed to save more than one lakh trees and shrubs from being axed in the biodiversity-rich Shahbad forest situated in Rajasthan’s Baran district for the installation of a pumped storage project. The locals travelled to New Delhi to draw the attention of higher echelons of power to the issue.
The Union government has reportedly given permission to a Hyderabad-based private company to set up the pumped storage project in 408 acres of the forest land. The locals have pointed out that the felling of trees would destroy the forest and adversely affect the ecology of the area, besides depriving the region’s tribal population of its livelihood.
The people’s delegation met Jhalawar-Baran MP Dushyant Singh and gave him a memorandum on the subject addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Prashant Patni, Sarpanch of Kunjed village panchayat and a delegation member, said a memorandum was also delivered to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday.
The memorandum stated that the Prime Minister had given a message on the World Wildlife Day for coexistence between ecology and economy. “We do not believe in conflict between ecology and economy, but give importance to coexistence between the two,” Mr. Modi had said.
“If the government is keen to build a pumped storage project, it should be done at a place where there is no dense forest. There are areas in Kota and Jhalawar districts where huge mountains of debris and hundreds of feet deep trenches have formed from the stone mines. This land can be reclaimed for installing the hydro power plant,” the memorandum stated.
The memorandum also quoted water conservationist Rajendra Singh, popularly called the Waterman of India, as saying that the forests like the one in Shahbad were very critical water recharge zones for the entire country and needed to be protected when India’s water security was severely threatened.
The Rajasthan High Court took suo motu cognisance of the matter in October 2024 and observed that the alternate land for afforestation in Jaisalmer district, situated 712 km away, would absorb only 3,500 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide, much lesser than 22.5 lakh metric tonnes being soaked in Shahbad.
National Alliance for Climate and Ecological Justice (NACEJ) member and environmentalist Neelam Ahluwalia said the protection of carbon sinks and lifelines for clean air and water security was very critical for the country. “The average global carbon dioxide concentration in the environment is now at 420 parts per million (ppm), which is 151% above the average pre-industrial level. As per NASA, the year 2024 was about 1.48 degree Celsius warmer than the pre-industrial average,” she said.
The memorandum also stated that the project would make an adverse impact on the movement and well-being of cheetahs brought from Namibia and South Africa under the Kuno Cheetah Project. The area of the Kuno National Park, situated in the adjoining Madhya Pradesh, is too small for the big cat, while the new plant will destroy the cheetah corridor.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority has determined the landscape of 17,000 sq. km from Kuno to Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary for first phase of the cheetah population management. The forest area of Shahabad lies between the Madhav National Park and the cheetah corridor, which will be disrupted by the proposed project.
Published – April 04, 2025 05:15 am IST