Centre defers nod to power project in UP, citing high risk to forest and wildlife

New Delhi, Oct 13 (PTI) The Centre has put on hold a proposal to divert over 616 hectares of dense forest in Uttar Pradesh's Sonbhadra district for a Rs 17,000-crore pumped storage project, after experts warned it would destroy rich forest ecosystems, fell more than two lakh trees and threaten wildlife habitats.

The Forest Advisory Committee of the Union Environment Ministry, which met on September 26, said a sub-committee would visit the site to conduct a holistic assessment of the project's potential impact before any clearance is considered.

The committee asked the state government to submit detailed division-wise land data, status of approvals from the Central Electricity Authority and the Central Water Commission and approved catchment area and wildlife management plans.

The Greenko Energies Pvt Ltd's project involves clearing more than 2.08 lakh trees across the Patna Range of Sonbhadra Forest Division and the Tariya Range of Obra Forest Division to build two reservoirs over 616 hectares of forest land.

The site falls close to the Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary, which spans parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

A field report by the regional office of the environment ministry in Lucknow warned that creating two large reservoirs, one of about 400 hectares and another of 200 hectares, would submerge existing forest ecosystems and lead to significant loss of flora, fauna and ecosystem services.

The report further noted that the impounded area would block groundwater recharge over nearly 600 hectares and affect both wildlife and local communities dependent on groundwater and river flows during dry months.

Additionally, the report questioned the low budget earmarked for water and wildlife conservation (just Rs 1.45 crore and Rs 1.55 crore, respectively) out of the total project cost of Rs 17,180 crore.

It warned that such limited funds would be inadequate to offset the ecological damage and compensate for the heavy deforestation proposed.

The state government informed the committee that 30 hectares of existing plantation would be affected and that the user agency had agreed to fund afforestation on 620 hectares of degraded forest land in addition to regular compensatory afforestation.

It also proposed setting up a "Forest and Landscape Restoration Trust" with a non-lapsable corpus equivalent to 0.5 per cent of the project cost to fund long-term restoration, monitoring and livelihood-linked conservation efforts.

Officials said the Wildlife Institute of India has prepared a Wildlife Conservation Plan for the project area, where several Schedule-I species are found. The plan is awaiting final approval from the chief wildlife warden of Uttar Pradesh.

The state government has also been directed to prepare a disaster management plan covering risks such as dam failure and inundation, including specific provisions for wildlife rescue and habitat protection.

The committee said that overlapping forest boundaries between Obra and Sonbhadra divisions complicated the diversion proposal.

It asked the state to clarify the legal status of 27.61 hectares of land that appears to fall within forest compartment limits and submit an updated site inspection report.

Given the ecological sensitivity of the site and the scale of deforestation involved, the committee stated that no clearance could be granted until a comprehensive field assessment is completed and all environmental safeguards and legal clarifications are in place. PTI GVS GVS MPL MPL