Ecologist decry plan near Bhimashankar sanctuary

Lashing out at the forest department for clearing the windmill project by Enercons India Ltd near Bhimashankar wildlife sanctuary, ecologist Madhav Gadgil said it posed a great threat to the ecology and wildlife in the area.

In a talk organised by Nature Walk on Friday, he said that despite being aware the fact that the project would harm the environment, the forest officials granted permission to install 10-11 windmills in the eco-sensitive zone around the sanctuary. The project started in March 2010.

Gadgil, who headed the Western Ghat experts ecology panel (WGEEP) that surveyed the project to see if it had caused environmental damage, said that thousands of trees were cut down to set up windmill turbines and construct approach roads.

The construction is causing landslides in the area and has disturbed wildlife to a large extent, he claimed.

The area is known for several species of birds, insects, flora and fauna and the 10-km area around the sanctuary has to be conserved. Despite this fact, the project was allowed, he alleged.

“All the windmills are within 10 km of the sanctuary. False claims were made by the forest that certain rare wildlife species are limited to the sanctuary and the project would not affect them,” he said. 

The panel found 32 varieties of trees on the way to windmills but when the panel asked for information like how many species existed and how many trees had been cut down, the forest department failed to provide it, said Gadgil.

The windmill turbines have also come up in Kharpud, which is considered important for medicinal herbs. Alleging that the forest department did not allow researchers to conduct studies in forest areas, Gadgil said they intended to dilute the facts and were afraid that research would bring out the truth.

Gadgil said the locals in Bhimashankar sanctuary area had brought out the matter and maintained that locals, gram panchayats, panchayat samitis and municipal corporations need to be involved in conservation.

“Although our laws support people’s participation in conserving forests, this right of the locals is not recognised. If this had been properly implemented, citizens could save the hills in Pune easily. But the provisions of such laws are not used,” he said.