State wildlife board clears 4 mega-projects on 1,800 hectares of forest land; over 400K trees to be axed

MUMBAI: A new dam to meet Mumbai’s rising water needs, two mining projects, and a road meant to service power lines are set to claim 1,800 hectares of forest across Maharashtra, large swathes of it slicing through fragile wildlife habitats including the tiger corridor of Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve. A staggering 4,00,000 trees will also be axed.

All four mega-projects were given the green signal by the State Board of Wildlife (SBWL) on Thursday at a meeting chaired by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Clearance by the board was critical, given the potential destruction to sensitive habitats and delicate ecosystems. The proposals will be forwarded to the National Wildlife Board for its consideration.

Among the projects cleared by the SBWL is the Gargai dam, which will supply 450 million liters of water per day (MLD) to Mumbai. While it will significantly augment Mumbai’s water supply, currently 4,000 MLD, the project will require more than 3,00,000 trees to be axed. It will also swallow a whopping 845 hectares of forest land – 652.21 hectares in the Tansa wildlife sanctuary alone, and 167.63 hectares of surrounding land, in Thane and Palghar districts.

According to information placed before the SBWL at Thursday’s meeting, an additional 5.7 hectares of land in the Jawahar forest division, and 19.29 hectares from surrounding areas will also be allocated for the project. Six villages will have to be rehabilitated.

The Gargai dam, to be built on the Gargai River in the Vaitarna basin, and whose estimated cost is ₹1,820 crore, will be the eighth reservoir to supply water to Mumbai. It will be the first to be constructed after Middle Vaitarna, also in Palghar district, was built in 2014. Fadnavis had given a provisional nod to the project on March 26.

BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani is said, “We have received permission for the Gargai project and we should be able to complete it in the next five years.”

Concerns are already being raised over the environmental impact of the mega-project. Rohidas Dagle, an environmentalist who works in Tansa, said it will greatly damage the flora and fauna in the region. Tansa is protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Some of the species in the region include the forest owlet, flying squirrel, leopard and antelopes, which will be under threat, he said.

Three other projects with potentially damaging environmental consequences were also cleared at Thursday’s meeting. Among them was the Gadchiroli hematite and quartzite mining project that will cut through the Tadoba Indravati tiger corridor. It will cover 997 hectares of forest land in Gadchiroli district, and require an estimated 123,000 trees to be axed. Significantly, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Shomita Biswas, had recommended this proposal.

Another project cleared by the SBWL on Thursday, also in the Tadoba Indravati tiger corridor, is a road to be built for the maintenance of power transmission lines in Gadchiroli. The project, whose estimated cost is ₹106 crore, has been allotted 20.57 hectares of forest land in the tiger corridor. It will involve the felling of 5,178 trees.

A mining project in Marki Mangli in Yavatmal district also received the go-ahead, and has been allotted

146 hectares of forest land in the Tadoba Andhari, Painganga Sanctuary, Tipeshwar sanctuary and Kawal wildlife reserve. The number of trees that will be axed is not known.

Meanwhile, as the green signal was being given to clear the four mega-projects that would consume 1,800 hectares of forest land and fell around 4,00,000 trees, state forest minister Ganesh Naik was rooting to save a wetland at the Delhi Public School in Navi Mumbai, which had been opposed by the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), the nodal agency for Navi Mumbai.

“I always wanted this water body to be protected. As an MLA, I fought with CIDCO. They were blocking water to mangroves by constructing bunds. I had told them I would get a bulldozer and get them removed. After becoming a minister, I have taken steps to protect it.”

SBWL member Kishore Rithe said, “The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and several organisations in Navi Mumbai had made representations to the government, and the chief minister had endorsed the decision.

The SBWL on Thursday also cleared the extension of the Bor wildlife sanctuary in Wardha to add Garamsur, Yenidodka, Methiraji, Umarvihori and Maraksur villages under its jurisdiction.

At the meeting, the government also decided to recruit wildlife veterinary doctors to treat injured wildlife. At present, the onus is on officers of the animal husbandry department.