Navi Mumbai: Amid massive pushback from citizens and opposition parties, the plan to cut 32,490 trees for a 3,000MW hydroelectric power unit in Karjat, Raigad district, has been halted, said state forest department officials on Monday.“There was tension following widespread protests and we didn’t want to take any risk,” a senior forest official said on the condition of anonymity.There was no official comment on whether the tree felling will resume later. The company had earlier said it had obtained all requisite permissions.The trees were to be axed for Gujarat-based Torrent Power’s pumped-storage project in Saidongar, Kotwal Khalati and Pal villages in Karjat, and fell in reserved, private and protected forest land spanning 576 acres, according to a notice issued by the forest department on Oct 14. The notice had triggered protests, with many locals alleging that the process had already begun in some places. There were also concerns that the facility would come up close to Bhimashankar wildlife sanctuary. CM Devendra Fadnavis and the company have disputed this, saying it would be 16km away. PM Narendra Modi was earlier expected to lay the project’s foundation stone on Nov 3.The decision to halt tree cutting came on a day Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray visited the Saidongar forest area and called the plan illegal. Thackeray was accompanied by party functionaries Sanjay Raut and Sushma Andhare and was joined by hundreds of villagers, who said that they would continue to protest against the tree cutting until govt cancels the power project. Opposition parties have put their weight behind protesting locals over the last three days. MNS chief Raj Thackeray had announced that he planned to visit Karjat on Tuesday.Echoing other locals, a Karjat resident told reporters that they were grateful for the backing from opposition netas. “For the past 18 months, suggestions and objections were invited regarding the power project. However, govt disregarded the objections of local villagers to the tree cutting plan and only stamped its approvals on those who toed its line of ‘development’.”Siddhant Malvankar, a citizen, flagged procedural and regulatory issues in a compliance review of the project. He identified 11 areas requiring scrutiny, including the timing of public hearing records, the adequacy of Marathi disclosures, cumulative basin-level hydrological assessment, forest diversion and seismic safety. Malvankar said the reported 58-day delay in uploading public hearing minutes and an appraisal by an expert appraisal committee before the minutes appeared on the portal warranted an explanation from the authorities. He also questioned whether objections concerning water security, stream diversion, blasting, forest loss and local livelihoods had been adequately examined and addressed.“Our objective is not to prejudge the project, but to demand transparent procedures, independent verification and accountability. Development must not come at the cost of ecological security and community rights,” said Malvankar.Thackeray alleged that the project involves a “brutal massacre of nature” under the guise of development. “…Maharashtra’s invaluable forest wealth is being ravaged… We stand firmly alongside all our tribal brethren and the local people,” he said on X.Raut told reporters at Karjat: “Our PM Narendra Modi says ‘Ek ped maa ke naam’ (plant a tree in your mother’s honour). However, at Karjat, thousands of trees are being massacred, which is an insult to the PM.”
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