Environmentalists seek stay on Jayakwadi solar project pending SC decision on wetland rules
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Environmentalists have sought a stay on the forthcoming floating solar power project at the Jayakwadi dam pending clearance of wetland conservation rules by the
Supreme Court
.
Yash Netke, an environmentalist from Nagpur, addressed a letter to the irrigation department and other authorities, saying that the Jayakwadi dam qualifies as a wetland according to the National Wetland Inventory Atlas mapped by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro). Netke said several significant petitions concerning wetland protection and encroachment are pending before the Apex Court.
"Any project affecting wetlands must comply with judicial mandates, and it will be premature to go ahead with the floating solar project at the Jayakwadi sam until the verdict in these matters, including possible framing of wetland protection rules, is out," he said.
Netke added the Supreme Court, in a ruling dated Dec 11 2024, in one of the cases, mandated the formation of a wetland committee by states to conduct ground truthing and reiterated that the list of wetland inventories as per Isro mapping should receive protection under the wetland rules.
On April 1, the State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) approved the solar project at Jayakwadi, which also hosts a bird sanctuary. According to SBWL meeting minutes, the project includes high-density polyethylene floats, photovoltaic panels, and an anchoring mechanism using concrete blocks, among other components.
"Given that these installations are permanent, especially concrete anchoring in the reservoir, and that solar projects fall under industrial activity, the project proponents must seek explicit permission from the Supreme Court, considering ongoing wetland litigations.
Authorities must comply with the Wetland Rules, 2017, which prohibit such interventions of a permanent nature in the major wetland in the form of the Jayakwadi dam," Netke said.
Kishor Pathak, the honorary wildlife warden for Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, said state and central govts are advocating for the solar plant at Jayakwadi at the expense of the notified wetland. "Marathwada has ample land available at different places where the solar project can be raised. It will be a blatant and brazen violation of different govt laws if the project takes shape at the wetland and bird sanctuary at the Jayakwadi dam," he said.
Recently, the fishermen community waged an unsuccessful battle in the National Green Tribunal and the Supreme Court against the proposed solar plant. Fishermen fear the loss of their livelihood as they oppose the project.
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