Mumbai, Oct 24 Environmental activists and opposition parties, including Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Raj Thackeray-led MNS, have come out against the “rampant” cutting of hundreds of trees for Torrent Power’s hydro-energy project in Raigad district of Maharashtra.
The project, proposed in Karjat tehsil, is the Saidongar-1 Pumped Storage Project, a 3,000 MW hydro-energy initiative, expected to contribute to grid reliability and energy security in the state and other regions. It envisages an investment of Rs 13,505 crore.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said “indiscriminate felling of thousands of trees for the hydroelectric project of the Gujarat company is blatantly underway.”
“Due to whose blessings is this slaughter proceeding? They are wiping out the rich natural bounty in the Saidongar area and trampling the opposition of locals and environmentalists,” Thackeray said on X.
“Locals and rest of the state is against this rampant tree-felling. Under whose pressure did the Forest Department grant permission for it? When will this ravaging of nature to fill the pockets of private companies come to a halt?” he said.
Why is Maharashtra’s environment being sacrificed in the “mad rush” for the proposed groundbreaking ceremony scheduled next month, he said.
A local MNS leader expressed concerns over the project’s possible impact on land, forests and water resources.
Kailash More, leader of Karjat Paryavaran Bachao Samiti, an environmental group, said the outfit’s members will stage a protest if the tree felling was not stopped.
The final approval for diversion of 233-hectare forest land and felling of 48,000 trees was issued on October 6 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Central government’s nodal agency for environmental and forestry policies and programmes, an official said.
(PTI News)
