New Delhi, Jul 14 (PTI) An environment conservation organisation has written an open letter to the Supreme Court-constituted Aravalli committee, asking it to recommend halting the cutting of more than one lakh trees in Shahbad forest in Rajasthan’s Baran district for the installation of a pumped storage project.
Formed in May this year, the committee has been tasked with conducting an independent review of the Centre’s report on the definition and delineation of the Aravalli hill range.
According to the Forest Survey of India’s September 2025 report, the hills and forest in Baran are part of the Aravalli range, said the letter, adding that the project’s construction could destroy the region’s pristine biodiversity and cause severe, long-term and irreversible adverse impacts.
The letter, released last week, was written by Prashant Patni, coordinator of the Shahbad Ghati Sanrakshan Sangharsh Samiti.
The proposed 1,800 MW pumped storage power project in Baran’s Shahbad tehsil will be developed by Greenko Energies Private Limited, and requires a diversion of more than 400 hectares of forest land.
For Rajasthan, which already has limited forest cover, cutting so many trees would have severe implications, including a rise in desertification, according to the letter.
“Experts directly link desertification to the large-scale destruction of the Aravallis… Destruction of a pristine forest like Shahbad will have far-reaching adverse effects on the rainfall cycle, local climate, temperature and environmental balance, potentially exacerbating the problem of desertification and water stress,” it added.
Moreover, the project is located near Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park, and is part of the cheetah corridor as identified by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, said the letter. As a result, its construction could affect the movement and well-being of cheetahs, it said.
“The pumped storage project, if undertaken in the said location, threatens to undermine the foundation of the proposed 17,000-square-kilometre cheetah corridor central to the Cheetah Project,” said the letter.
It also highlighted that the forest land diversion could affect local wildlife, including sloth bears, leopards, jackals, hyenas, wolves, long-billed vultures, sambar deer, nilgai and over 100 other species.
According to the letter, numerous villages of the Sahariya Adivasi community are situated in and around the Shahbad forest area as well.
“The destruction of the Shahbad forest for a pumped storage facility that can be made elsewhere will create a livelihood crisis for the Sahariya tribal community, potentially forcing a large number of people to migrate,” said the letter. PTI ALC KSS KSS
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