Villagers’ stir against solar plants protects khejri trees

Agreement reached between energy firms and Bishnoi activists to save trees in western Rajasthan

The proposed installation of eight solar power plants in Jodhpur district’s Phalodi tehsil has led to a major confrontation with the Bishnoi activists, who have strongly protested against the felling of khejri trees. The solar energy companies, which have acquired 25,000-bigha land on lease in the region, have cut down a large number of khejri trees, which is the State tree of Rajasthan.

Though the expansion of solar and wind power projects on the vast desert land in western Rajasthan is set to bring the State to the forefront of power generation, the process of their installation has adversely affected the desert ecosystem. The trees need to be felled to let the solar panels be aligned horizontally for a certain length of space.

The two new entrants in the power sector have provided economic gains to the agriculturists whose land was taken over to install the plants with the payment of cash compensation. While several villagers have welcomed these projects because of their economic benefits, the vast majority of others are bitterly opposed to this new intervention across the semi-arid agricultural fields.

The Bishnoi activists, who have a sentimental attachment with khejri or Prosopis cineraria trees, claim that the solar panels are causing incredible loss to Thar desert’s flora and fauna. Thousands of khejri trees have been chopped off wherever the new solar power plants have been set up. The incident in Phalodi tehsil’s Badi Sid region is the latest one involving a clash with the villagers.

After the solar energy firms cut down the khejri trees and buried them in earth to make the fields plain to set up panels, three organisations of the region joined hands to forge a front for opposing the move. The activists, who had raised the issue for more than four months, held demonstrations for several days outside the fields last month and brought a bulldozer to dig out the trees.

“The impact of new power intervention by private companies on the desert ecosystem is quite visible. The majority of our population depends on the wild vegetation which is getting lost forever for the gains of power plants,” Ramniwas Budhnagar, general secretary of Bishnoi Tiger Force, told The Hindu. He said the evidence of indiscriminate felling of trees in Badi Sid was submitted to the district authorities.