Union govt called out over selective forest protection amidst alarming deforestation trends

By A Representative 

In a strongly worded letter addressed to Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Sri Bhupender Yadav, climate and energy policy analyst Shankar Sharma has raised serious concerns over the Union government’s selective response to deforestation and continued approval of ecologically destructive projects across India.

The letter references a statement made by the Minister in Rajya Sabha on April 3, where he assured action on the deforestation incident in Kancha Gachibowli, Hyderabad. While welcoming the minister’s prompt response, Sharma draws attention to a deeper, systemic issue—what he describes as a consistent pattern of forest diversion approvals across BJP-ruled states and Union territories, including inside legally Protected Areas (PAs), with minimal public scrutiny or legal accountability.

Citing a recent investigative report by The Wire, titled "Union Govt was Quick to Note Deforestation in Hyderabad. Here are Similar Projects It Is Ignoring", Sharma urges the ministry to address similar alarming cases of deforestation occurring across the country. The report points to seven such major projects where large-scale forest clearance has been greenlit without adequate environmental justification.

He further highlights Parliamentary data and government reports revealing the approval of 173,000 hectares of forest land for non-forestry purposes and the diversion of nearly 60,000 hectares over just three years. Despite India’s National Forest Policy targeting 33% forest and tree cover, official estimates indicate that the figure remains at a meagre 24% and is declining in several ecologically sensitive states.

The letter strongly criticizes the MoEF&CC, the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), and the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) for routinely granting clearances, even for projects located within wildlife sanctuaries and eco-sensitive zones. Sharma underscores this as contradictory to the Supreme Court’s own observations that cutting a large number of trees is worse than killing a human being, and that deforestation is a key driver of extreme weather events and biodiversity loss.

Drawing attention to the Supreme Court’s recent judgments linking heat waves to loss of green cover and recognizing climate change as a direct threat to the citizens’ right to life, Sharma challenges the government to uphold these principles in practice. He asks: “Who should be held accountable for routine approvals of forest diversion within ecologically critical zones, especially when civil society provides credible, less-destructive alternatives?”

One case in point is a proposed 2,000 MW pumped storage hydropower plant (PSP) in the Sharavathi river valley in Karnataka’s Western Ghats, which threatens to destroy 350 acres of pristine rainforest. Sharma argues that alternative technologies such as Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) offer a less harmful solution for integrating renewable energy, yet authorities are pressing ahead with multiple PSPs in biodiversity hotspots.

He warns that the cumulative impact of such projects—over 500 of which were cleared within PAs between 2014 and 2018 alone—poses a grave threat to India’s ecological security, wildlife habitats, and climate commitments.

The letter ends with an urgent appeal to policymakers to transparently define how much forest loss is “acceptable,” and to publicly disclose forest diversion policies, enabling informed participation from civil society and reducing conflict between governance and grassroots conservation efforts.

Copy of the letter has also been marked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for urgent attention.