Representative image. |Photo source: Lakshmi Narayanan e
A group of environmentalists, citizens and villagers protested strongly over the proposal to fall over 400,000 trees in the biodiversity-rich Sabad forest in Balan District, Rajasthan to install a hydropower plant. Locals traveled to New Delhi, attracting the attention of the senior power tier.
The coalition government has reportedly allowed a private company in Hyderabad to build a 1,800 MW hydropower plant on 408 acres of forest land. Locals pointed out that in addition to depriving the livelihoods of tribes in the region, the deforestation of trees can damage forests and adversely affect the ecology of the region.
The People’s Delegation met Jhalawar-Baran MP Dushyant Singh and gave him a memorandum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sarpanch and delegation member Prashant Patni of Panchayat in Kujed Village said a memorandum was also sent to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday.
The National Alliance on Climate and Ecological Justice (NACEJ) pointed out in the memorandum that although the government has allowed the cutting of one hundred thousand trees, in fact, it is planned to cut down about four to half a million trees.
“If the government is eager to build a hydropower project, it should be done in a place without dense forests. In the Kota and Jalawal region, there are areas where huge debris and hundreds of feet deep trenches form hundreds of feet deep trenches from the stone mines. Hydro Power plants can be installed on the land where Hydro Power plants are installed.”
NACEJ member and environmentalist Neelam Ahluwalia said the Rajasthan High Court had acquainted the matter in October 2024 and noted that the alternative land in Jaisalmer district is 712 kilometers away from Jaisalmer district, with only 3,500 tons of carbon dioxide and 22.5 lakn hearh sherh sheys shorn shorn shorn shorn shorn shorn shorn shern sherh heake nofferb.
Ms Ahalovalia said: “At present, when India is one of the most vulnerable countries affected by global warming and climate change, it is crucial to protect our carb sinks and the lifeline of clean air and water security.”
The memorandum also states that under the Kuno Cheetah project, the Hydro Power project will have an adverse impact on the movement and well-being of cheetahs brought by Namibia and South Africa. The area of Kuno National Park in adjacent Madhya Pradesh is too small for big cats, and the new factory will destroy the cheetah corridor.
The National Tiger Protection Agency has identified 17,000 square kilometers of landscape from Kuno to Gandhi Sagar Shelter for the first phase of cheetah population management. The forested area of Shahabad is located between Madhav National Park and Cheetah Corridor, and the project will be destroyed by the proposed project.
publishing – April 4, 2025 05:15 AM IST
