‘Lies’ behind ₹12,000 cr project in MP:New Satpura Power Plant unit puts Tawa River stretch and rare wildlife under threat

A major project is being planned between the Tawa River, the largest tributary of the Narmada, and considered Madhya Pradesh’s lifeline, and the dense Satpura forests. A new 660 MW (12th) unit is being prepared at the Satpura Thermal Power Plant in Sarni, but Dainik Bhaskar’s ground investigation has found that the ₹12,000 crore project is allegedly based on misleading claims. The investigation revealed that plant management distorted facts on paper to secure environmental clearance and downplayed the presence of forests and wildlife. The management claims the unit is being built on its own land, that no part of the dam area will be submerged, and that only 800 trees will be cut. However, the Forest Department says no permission has been taken from it for the project. Read the report Dense forest, clear waters face threat When our team reached the area behind the plant where the new unit is proposed, the scene was like a sanctuary. There were dense trees all around, the chirping of birds, and the clear water of Satpura Dam. To test the purity of the water, a coin was dropped into it, which was clearly visible even at depth. Approximately 6 acres of this pure water area is to be filled. The plant administration claims that they are working on their own land, but a large part of the river, wetlands, and hundreds of trees will be sacrificed for the construction. ‘6 white lies’ of power plants, threatening environment Our investigation found a big difference between the information provided for clearance and the ground reality Lie 1: The dam and water will not be harmed
Reality: Google Maps and site coordinates show that the part of the dam where millions of liters of pure water are stored will be filled for the new unit. Approximately 6 acres of submerged area will be sacrificed for the project. Lie 2: There are only ‘peacocks’ within a 10 km radius
Reality: Forest department documents state that 30 wildlife species here fall under the Schedule-1 (highly protected) category of the ‘Wildlife Protection Act 1972’. The entire area has become a rich wetland, where migratory birds also come from Siberia. Lie 3: The tiger corridor is 10 km away
Reality: The map of Satpura-Melghat Tiger Corridor shows that it is just 1 km away from the plant. PCCF (Wildlife) Smita Rajora has confirmed that the natural path of tigers has already been affected due to the plant. Lie 4: Not a single tree will be cut
Reality: Hundreds of trees on the project site have been marked for felling. The plant’s chief engineer admitted that permission has been sought to cut 800 trees. Lie 5: There are no local species
Reality: The rare ‘Satpura Leopard Gecko’ (a species of lizard) of Central India is found here, which is not found anywhere else in the world. Lie 6: There is no conflict between humans and wildlife
Reality: Local resident Nitisha Shejkar states that leopards frequently enter residential areas. Several cases of pet predation and compensation are recorded in the forest department’s records. This clearly shows that ‘human-wildlife conflict’ is at its peak here. Option to save nature was available Wildlife activist Adil Khan says that this project is falling prey to corruption. Units 1 to 9 of the plant have already been shut down. If the management wanted, it could have installed the new unit on the vacant land of the closed units. This would have saved the forest and the river, and the project cost would have been reduced by 20 to 30 percent. But a new location was deliberately chosen so that a big game could be played in the name of construction. MP Forest Department chief Shubhranjan Sen says that no permission was taken from them for this project, nor was any official information provided.