Centre puts Sharavathy project on hold, warns of 'enormous damage' to biodiversity in Western Ghats

NEW DELHI: (Nov 9) The Centre has deferred a proposal to divert around 54 hectares of forest land in the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats for the 2,000-megawatt Sharavathy Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Project in Karnataka after members flagged serious ecological concerns and violations of forest laws.

According to the minutes of the 11th meeting of the Environment Ministry's Forest Advisory Committee held on October 27, the proposed project area lies within the Sharavathy Valley Lion-Tailed Macaque Sanctuary, which is located in the central regions of the Western Ghats.

The committee said the project involves the felling of more than 15,000 trees, many of which are endemic to the Western Ghats, one of the 34 global biodiversity hotspots. It said the forest tracts fall under "eco-class 1 and eco-class 3" with canopy densities of 0.5 and 0.2.