Karnataka wildlife panel opposes Sharavathi Pumped Storage Project over Ghats damage

Bengaluru: A committee set up by the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) has recommended the rejection of 2,000-MW power project in the Sharavathi Valley Lion Tailed Macaque (LTM) sanctuary after a site inspection showed that the proposal neither had technical merit nor public interest even though it would damage the fragile ecosystem of the Ghats. In addition, the panel flagged concealment of facts.

The joint committee comprising members H S Singh and Raman Sukumar, and Shivakumar C M from the National Tiger Conservation Authority visited the project site following a direction by the NBWL chairman during the Board’s September 3, 2025 meeting. 

Besides going through documents and consulting people, the members undertook field visits of all the forest areas proposed for diversion.

“The proposed activities are likely to result in habitat fragmentation, disturbance to wildlife, cumulative stress on forest and riverine ecosystems, and long-term degradation of ecological integrity in an area already under pressure from existing infrastructure.

Species threatened

While KPCL had pointed to the project’s design to utilise the existing dams rather than constructing a new one as a primary advantage, the committee pointed out that the construction of dams has caused extensive loss of “prime, highly productive valley habitats” for the wildlife.

“The construction of three dams across the Sharavathi river and its major tributary has already fragmented the entire landscape of the Sharavathi sanctuary and the adjoining forest tracts in the central Western Ghats of Karnataka,” it said.

Moreover, the committee noted, the loss of dense evergreen and semi-evergreen forests and the widespread disturbance during its five-year construction phase will leave “very limited scope for the survival” of a small population of LTMs in the southern part of the sanctuary.

The widening of the road along a “pristine perennial stream” will cause siltation, leading to degradation of the aquatic habitats and loss of several rare and endemic species of the Ghats.

Facts concealed

The committee said the KPCL’s submission that existing 220 kV power transmission lines will be used to evacuate 2,000-MW, which requires 400 kV lines, “appears to be an attempt to conceal facts”.

“During the field visit, the KPCL officer informed us that the existing lines will be dismantled and replaced with a new one. This will involve transportation of dismantled materials out of the area and movement of new structural materials in rugged, hilly terrain. Construction of approach roads through forest areas will be required for the transportation. This critical component has not been disclosed,” it said.

The committee recorded the massive opposition to the project by the people of the area and also sought a legal examination to check whether construction of a massive powerhouse and the connection to the existing transmission lines falls under the prohibited or regulated activity.

“When assessed holistically, the limited operational benefit offered by the project seems outweighed by the irreversible ecological, environmental, and social costs involved,” the report noted, listing at least five more reasons to reject the project.

Wildlife conservationist Veeresh G said the committee had laid bare the true enormity of the project’s destructive nature.

“Ideally, the chief wildlife warden should have given this report. Unfortunately, we had to wait for a committee set up by an apex body to tell us the simple facts. Moreover, there is no provision in the law to allow projects like this inside any sanctuary,” he said.