Climate & Environment

Hundreds of Trees Cut in Maharashtra Forest Sparks Protest Over Tribal Livelihoods and Climate Impact

By Pratip Acharya

Nearly 1,100 trees were felled on Saidongar hill, about 100 km from Mumbai, before the operation was halted last week. The felling, which began on Dussehra morning, was intended to clear land for a 3,000‑MW pumped‑storage hydropower plant being built by Torrent Power at a cost of Rs 13,505 crore, with operations expected to begin in 2029. The project requires 377 hectares of forest in the Sahyadri range of Raigad district and will remove more than 32,000 trees.

Villagers from six hamlets—Saidongar, Dhak, Pali, Potal, Ambot and Bhaliwadi—have long depended on the forest for firewood, honey, fruit and medicinal plants. Vishnu Shankar Pawar, 52, of Pali village, said that the community is selling its stored firewood and fears how it will survive once the stock is exhausted.

The forest was cleared without a no‑objection certificate from the Pali panchayat, and the Forest Department had not received any records from the Gram Sabha indicating that tribal families depend on the forest. As a result, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change issued environmental clearance to Torrent without a rehabilitation or compensation plan for the affected families.

The area falls within the Western Ghats, a region identified by the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel as ESZ 1, the highest protection zone. The panel’s 2011 report recommended no large dams or major infrastructure in this zone, but those recommendations were not implemented.

Scientists warn that large‑scale deforestation in the Western Ghats could alter moisture cycles that bring rain to distant regions, including Tamil Nadu. A 2018 study by IIT Bombay and CSIR researchers found that evapotranspiration from the Ghats supplies about 3 mm of rain per day to the Cauvery basin in Tamil Nadu; removal of vegetation could reduce rainfall and raise temperatures.

Torrent Power has stated that the reservoirs will primarily use rainwater and that the project will create 2,000 jobs during construction. It also plans to build a 50‑bed multispeciality hospital and provide free treatment to tribal people, along with schools and skill‑development centres.

The felling has been temporarily halted following protests that drew opposition leaders and activists to Karjat. No decision has yet been made on when tree cutting will resume.