Uttara Kannada forests face damage from hydropower and pumped storage projects meant to support clean energy transition

A new report from Down To Earth details how decades of hydropower development and new pumped storage projects in Uttara Kannada, Karnataka, are damaging evergreen forests in the Western Ghats. The area is a biodiversity hotspot and a critical carbon sink, but energy infrastructure continues to fragment habitats and disrupt rivers. The proposed Sharavathi Pumped Storage Project is located inside a wildlife sanctuary, raising legal and ecological concerns. The article traces the history of conflict around the Gerusoppa Dam and shows how the same landscape is now being targeted for pumped storage. Local communities, wildlife including the lion-tailed macaque, and forest-dependent livelihoods are all affected. The piece argues that India's net zero goals should not come at the cost of weakening forests and biodiversity that are essential for long term climate resilience. For anyone tracking the real world tradeoffs of renewable energy deployment, this is a concrete case study. It shows how project siting, regulatory oversight, and historical land use patterns still collide with clean energy targets. The piece is worth reading for its on the ground reporting and the map of energy infrastructure overlaid on protected areas.