Maharashtra
Khed and Maval Talukas
,
Kharpud, Satkarwadi, Kude Budruk, Padarwadi, Parsul, Ambhu, Amboli, Avandhe villages
,
Pune
Published : 12 July, 2014   |   Last updated - 24 Jun, 2024
Wind Farm in Western Ghats poses perennial flooding problem for locals in Maharashtra
Reported by
Maitreya Ghorpade
Legal Review by
Anmol Gupta
Updated by
Anupa Kujur
1111
Households affected
People Affected
2009
Year started
194
Land area affected
1111
Households affected
People Affected
2009
Year started
194
Land area affected
Key Insights
Sector
Power
Reason/Cause of conflict
Renewable Power
Conflict Status
Ongoing
Ended
Legal Status
Region Classification
Rural
Ended
1
Summary

The 106.4 MW Andhra Lake Wind Farm project, set up at a cost of ₹850 crore, has been a persistent source of flooding problems for the local communities spread across 14 villages of the Khed and Mawal talukas of Pune District, Maharashtra. The Wind Energy project, comprising 133 Wind Turbine Generators (WTG), is situated atop a hilly area within the biodiversity hot-spot of the Western Ghats, covering 194.66 hectares of its reserve forest land.

Diversion of forest land for the project was approved by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on December 10, 2009. The project was promoted by Indo-German enterprise Enercon, in partnership with Wind World India. Later it was sold to CLP India, the Indian subsidiary of Chinese Energy Syndicate CLP Group, and Apraava Energy, a power company jointly owned by CLP Group and Canadian investment group CDPQ. The entire project was commissioned in 2012, and has an expected lifetime of 20 years.

However, ever since the project’s inception, activists have protested against governmental grants of permission for the project warning about the potential hazards of situating a project of this size and nature in close proximity to the Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary (BWS). A Pune-based NGO, Kalpavriksh, wrote a letter to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Maharashtra in 2011 detailing the various irregularities and illegalities present in the grant of Forest Clearance (FC) to the project.

Speaking with LCW, Pradeep Chavan, member of Kalpavrish, stated that their objections were primarily because significant portions of the project area were within a 10-kilometre radius of the ecologically sensitive BWS, which would therefore be in violation of the Wildlife Conservation Strategy 2002, which prohibits Wind Energy projects in such close proximity to Wildlife Sanctuaries. Further, consent from certain affected Gram Sabhas, as required per the Forest Rights Act, 2006, was also not obtained. Chavan further alleged that the FC was granted based on misrepresentation of ground realities by higher authorities in the forest department. However, the project commenced regardless.

The wind farm has been constructed atop a hilly area in the Western Ghats, with an access road covering an area of 3541 hectares constructed leading up to the wind farm. The residents of the area claim this access road has led to perennial flooding problems, especially for the farmers of adjoining villages whose rice-fields are often inundated with rainwater and debris flowing from the hill-top down the access road.

Kharpud village, which is around 3.5 kilometre from the boundary of BWS, having routinely witnessed flooding of their rice-fields. Residents of this village told LCW they protested against the wind farm’s agricultural impact in December 2022, demanding compensation for their loss of produce and damage to fields.

The Sarpanch of Kharpud village Shri Tanaji Bhopte, said "compensation was infrequently provided to the farmers, but the flooding has become a routine and persistent issue for the local rice-farmers". He claimed that the noise from the WTGs is adversely impacting local wildlife, and complained of a lack of employment opportunities given to the local communities by the wind farm, despite promises of such being made during the project’s initial stages. “They should at least supply our villages with electricity, power cuts are still often felt for 6-8 hours a day” added Bhopte.

Despite these facts, the project was registered under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Clean Development Mechanism (UNFCCC CDM) project, with effect from August 10, 2012, and has since been monitored by the UNFCCC.

A public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by one Mr. Dattatray Kale against the project, which led to a  stay against the project being issued by the Bombay High Court on the 16th of December, 2010. However, the PIL was ultimately disposed off in 2014 by Bombay High Court vide order dated 9th September 2014, wherein the Court observed that the matter was being disposed off due to death of the Applicant, but “the issues raised (were) kept open”.  No further litigation against the project has thus far taken place. 

As of May 2023 community members continue to await the jobs that were promised to them and electricity supply from the wind farm.

2
Fact Sheet

Demand/Contention of the Affected Community

Opposition against environmental degradation

Demand for employment

Complaint against procedural violations

Demand for compensation

Other Demand/Contention of the Affected Community

Region Classification

Rural

Type of Land

Common

Forest

What was the action taken by the police?

How many people did the police detain or arrest?

What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?

Did the person face any violence while in police custody?

If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?

If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?

Legislation under which the accused was charged

Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?

In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?

Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?

Were there any other notable irregularities that took place, or other significant details?

Details of sources (names of accused, names and numbers of any lawyers, names of any police officers contacted)

Status of Project

Original Project Deadline

Whether the Project has been Delayed

Significance of Land to Land Owners/Users

Agricultural land, Other environmental services

Whether the project was stalled due to land conflict

No

Source/Reference

Total investment involved (in Crores):

850

Type of investment:

Cost of Project

Year of Estimation

2011

Page Number In Investment Document:

49

Has the Conflict Ended?

When did it end?

Why did the conflict end?

Author
Reported by
Maitreya Ghorpade

Maharashtra

Kumar Sambhav is a social entrepreneur and award-winning journalist, leading innovative research in accountability investigations. He is the founder of Land Conflict Watch and is currently working as India Research Lead with Princeton University’s Digital Witness Lab.

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Fact sheet

Demand/Contention of the Affected Community

Opposition against environmental degradation

Demand for employment

Complaint against procedural violations

Demand for compensation

Wind Farm in Western Ghats poses perennial flooding problem for locals in Maharashtra

Reported by

Maitreya Ghorpade

Legal Review by

Anmol Gupta, Mukta Joshi

Edited by

Radhika Chatterjee

Updated by

Updated by

Published on

May 24, 2023

May 26, 2023

Edited on

May 24, 2023

Sector

Power

Reason or Cause of Conflict

Renewable Power

Wildlife Sanctuary

Starting Year

2009

Land Area Affected (in Hectares)

194

ha

Households Affected by Conflict

1111

People Affected by Conflict

State

Maharashtra

Sector

Power

People Affected by Conflict

Households Affected by Conflict

1111

Land Area Affected (in Hectares)

194

ha

Starting Year

2009

Location of Conflict

Kharpud, Satkarwadi, Kude Budruk, Padarwadi, Parsul, Ambhu, Amboli, Avandhe villages

Khed and Maval Talukas

Pune

Reason or Cause of Conflict

Renewable Power

Wildlife Sanctuary

Land Conflict Summary

The 106.4 MW Andhra Lake Wind Farm project, set up at a cost of ₹850 crore, has been a persistent source of flooding problems for the local communities spread across 14 villages of the Khed and Mawal talukas of Pune District, Maharashtra. The Wind Energy project, comprising 133 Wind Turbine Generators (WTG), is situated atop a hilly area within the biodiversity hot-spot of the Western Ghats, covering 194.66 hectares of its reserve forest land.

Diversion of forest land for the project was approved by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on December 10, 2009. The project was promoted by Indo-German enterprise Enercon, in partnership with Wind World India. Later it was sold to CLP India, the Indian subsidiary of Chinese Energy Syndicate CLP Group, and Apraava Energy, a power company jointly owned by CLP Group and Canadian investment group CDPQ. The entire project was commissioned in 2012, and has an expected lifetime of 20 years.

However, ever since the project’s inception, activists have protested against governmental grants of permission for the project warning about the potential hazards of situating a project of this size and nature in close proximity to the Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary (BWS). A Pune-based NGO, Kalpavriksh, wrote a letter to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Maharashtra in 2011 detailing the various irregularities and illegalities present in the grant of Forest Clearance (FC) to the project.

Speaking with LCW, Pradeep Chavan, member of Kalpavrish, stated that their objections were primarily because significant portions of the project area were within a 10-kilometre radius of the ecologically sensitive BWS, which would therefore be in violation of the Wildlife Conservation Strategy 2002, which prohibits Wind Energy projects in such close proximity to Wildlife Sanctuaries. Further, consent from certain affected Gram Sabhas, as required per the Forest Rights Act, 2006, was also not obtained. Chavan further alleged that the FC was granted based on misrepresentation of ground realities by higher authorities in the forest department. However, the project commenced regardless.

The wind farm has been constructed atop a hilly area in the Western Ghats, with an access road covering an area of 3541 hectares constructed leading up to the wind farm. The residents of the area claim this access road has led to perennial flooding problems, especially for the farmers of adjoining villages whose rice-fields are often inundated with rainwater and debris flowing from the hill-top down the access road.

Kharpud village, which is around 3.5 kilometre from the boundary of BWS, having routinely witnessed flooding of their rice-fields. Residents of this village told LCW they protested against the wind farm’s agricultural impact in December 2022, demanding compensation for their loss of produce and damage to fields.

The Sarpanch of Kharpud village Shri Tanaji Bhopte, said "compensation was infrequently provided to the farmers, but the flooding has become a routine and persistent issue for the local rice-farmers". He claimed that the noise from the WTGs is adversely impacting local wildlife, and complained of a lack of employment opportunities given to the local communities by the wind farm, despite promises of such being made during the project’s initial stages. “They should at least supply our villages with electricity, power cuts are still often felt for 6-8 hours a day” added Bhopte.

Despite these facts, the project was registered under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Clean Development Mechanism (UNFCCC CDM) project, with effect from August 10, 2012, and has since been monitored by the UNFCCC.

A public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by one Mr. Dattatray Kale against the project, which led to a  stay against the project being issued by the Bombay High Court on the 16th of December, 2010. However, the PIL was ultimately disposed off in 2014 by Bombay High Court vide order dated 9th September 2014, wherein the Court observed that the matter was being disposed off due to death of the Applicant, but “the issues raised (were) kept open”.  No further litigation against the project has thus far taken place. 

As of May 2023 community members continue to await the jobs that were promised to them and electricity supply from the wind farm.

Fact Sheet

Demand/Contention of the Affected Community

Opposition against environmental degradation

Demand for employment

Complaint against procedural violations

Demand for compensation

Other Demand/Contention of the Affected Community

Region Classification

Rural

Type of Land

Common

Type of Common Land

Forest

What was the action taken by the police?

How many people did the police detain or arrest?

What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?

Did the person face any violence while in police custody?

Did the person face any violence while in police custody?

If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?

If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?

Legislation under which the accused was charged

Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?

In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?

Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?

Were there any other notable irregularities that took place, or other significant details?

Details of sources (names of accused, names and numbers of any lawyers, names of any police officers contacted)

Status of Project

Original Project Deadline

Whether the Project has been Delayed

Significance of Land to Land Owners/Users

Agricultural land, Other environmental services

Whether the project was stalled due to land conflict

No

Source/Reference

Total investment involved (in Crores):

850

Type of investment:

Cost of Project

Year of Estimation

2011

Page Number In Investment Document:

49

Has the Conflict Ended?

When did it end?

Why did the conflict end?

Legal Data

Categories of Legislations Involved in the Conflict

Legislations/Policies Involved

Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980
Section 2 [Restriction on diverting forest land for non-forest purposes without clearance from the union government]
Guidelines for Declaration of Eco-Sensitive Zones around National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries dated 2011
Para 4 [Width of the eco-sensitive zone can go upto 10 km around a protected area. Where sensitive corridors, connectivity and ecologically important areas exist, areas beyond 10 km may be notified]
Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006
Section 5C [Functions of the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) include carrying out impact assessment of any development activity which can impact wildlife or its habitat]
Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972
Section 5C [Functions of the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) include carrying out impact assessment of any development activity which can impact wildlife or its habitat]
Wildlife Conservation Strategy, 2002
Point 9 [Lands adjoining wildlife sanctuaries and national parks within a 10km radius should be notified as Eco-Sensitive Zones]
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    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

Whether claims/objections were made as per procedure in the relevant statute

No

What was the claim(s)/objection(s) raised by the community?

What was the Decision of the Concerned Government Department?

Legal Processes and Loopholes Enabling the Conflict:

Non-implementation/violation of FRA

Violation of environmental laws

Violation of free prior informed consent

Legal Status:

In Court

Status of Case In Court

Disposed

Whether any adjudicatory body was approached

No

Name of the adjudicatory body

Name(s) of the Court(s)

Bombay High Court

Case Number

PIL 223 of 2010

Main Reasoning/Decision of court

The PIL filed before the Bombay High Court was disposed of due to the death of the petitioner. In September 2014, the Court noted that the case would be closed but the issues raised would be kept open.

Major Human Rights Violations Related to the Conflict:

No items found.

Reported Details of the Violation:

Date of Violation

Location of Violation

Additional Information

Government Departments Involved in the Conflict:

Forest Department, Maharashtra

PSUs Involved in the Conflict:

Did LCW Approach Government Authorities for Comments?

Name, Designation and Comment of the Government Authorities Approached

Corporate Parties Involved in the Conflict:

Enercon GmbH; Wind World India; CLP India Pvt. Ltd.; CPDQ; Apaarva Energy

Did LCW Approach Corporate Parties for Comments?

No

Communities/Local Organisations in the Conflict:

Paschim Ghat Bachao Samiti

Information on the use of criminal law

What was the action taken by the police?

How many people did the police detain or arrest?

What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?

Did the person face any violence while in police custody?

If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?

If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?

Legislation under which the accused was charged

Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?

In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?

Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?

Were there any other notable irregularities that took place, or other significant details?

Resources

Resources Related to Conflict

  • News Articles Related to the Conflict:
  • Documents Related to the Conflict:
  • Links Related to the Conflict:

Images

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Video

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