Sharavathi valley sanctuary, formed in 1978, was extended in 2019 to include the Aghanashini LTM conservation reserve.
Credit: DH File Photo
Bengaluru: The state government has written to the Centre seeking a green signal to the controversial pumped storage project in the Sharavathi lion-tailed macaque (LTM) sanctuary amid concerns raised by officials that the conditions raised by members of the State Board of Wildlife had been removed from the final proceedings.
The 2,000-MW project proposed by the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) requires 352.77 acres, of which 133.81 acres is forest area within the LTM sanctuary.
Apart from LTMs, the forest is home to giant squirrel, small Indian civet, leopards, dhole, sloth bear, pangolin, King Cobra and other species of wild animals. Documents showed that the forest, ecology and environment department wrote to the secretary, union ministry of environment, forest and climate change, seeking ‘in-principle’ approval (for stage 1) for diversion of 133.81 acres of forest land to build the power project. The construction work involves drilling and blasting in the heart of the sanctuary.
Interestingly, Section 29 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act bars any diversion of the forests in protected areas unless it is “necessary for the improvement and better management of wildlife therein”.
The union government recently amended the law to exempt drinking water projects from the restriction.
“Being a hydro-electric project, KPCL’s proposal has no merit in improving the habitat in any form. In fact, the trail of destruction it will leave in the next five years will not only affect LTMs, but will bring larger negative changes in the landscape that will contribute to human-wildlife conflict,” a wildlife activist who has worked in the area for over 15 years told DH.
The government’s recommendation comes days after DH reported on it doing away with key conditions discussed during the meeting of the state board of wildlife.
The conditions of replacing surface roads with tunnels, reducing the number of trees to be felled from over 15,000 to less than 10,000 and others were announced to the media by none other than Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre.