Environmentalists raise concerns over Sharavathi project ahead of NBWL meeting
Bengaluru: Environmentalists and experts have voiced strong opposition to the Karnataka government’s proposed 2,000MW pumped storage hydropower project in the ecologically sensitive Sharavathi Lion-Tailed Macaque Wildlife Sanctuary, ahead of a key meeting of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) scheduled for Wednesday.
Those opposing the project include conservationists, experts and officials from the Karnataka forest department and Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), as reported by The New Indian Express.
Living Earth Foundation (Leaf), an environment advocacy group, has submitted a formal objection to the member secretary of the standing committee for NBWL, highlighting anomalies in the project cleared by the Karnataka State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) on March 4. The group noted the that since the area is a protected ESZ, major hydro projects are prohibited.
“The November 6, 2023, ESZ notification said that establishing a pumped storage hydro power project within a notified ESZ of the wildlife sanctuary to harness 2000MW power is prohibited as per law. Neither SBWL nor NBWL should approve the project,” TNIE quoted Sreeja Chakraborty, managing director of Leaf, as saying.
The state’s energy department is looking out to utilise the existing Talakalale reservoir as the upper reservoir and Gerusoppa as the lower reservoir. To proceed, the project would require 52 hectares of forest land and the felling of around 15,000 trees.
“We are not against development. It is the sensitive location which is a concern. In May 2025, NBWL cleared the proposal to use 1.1479ha of forest land in Gudekote Sloth Bear Sanctuary to lay 33kV of interconnecting underground transmission lines for a 600MW wind project by JSW Renewable Energy Vijayanagar Limited,” TNIE quoted an SBWL member as saying.
Energy department officials have defended the proposal, stating that it is a pumped storage system and not a conventional electricity generation project. “The project uses hydro electricity. Two reservoirs are already present,” they said.
However, legal and environmental experts argue that the project's impact on the region—part of the biodiversity-rich Western Ghats—has not been thoroughly assessed.
“The proposal also listed that a three-month study was done. But a year-long impact assessment study is needed as power will be generated all year round. NBWL should look into all this as the area is prone to landslides due to the heavy rainfall it receives, and is a sensitive region of the Western Ghats,” TNIE quoted a legal expert as saying.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
