Pune: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation and others to submit a response regarding the legality of the floating solar power project on Jayakwadi Dam in the next hearing. This order was issued by NGT Chairman J.D. K. Singh.

The Kahar Samaj Panch Committee has filed an environmental interest petition (EIL) concerning this issue.

The petition is filed against Tehri Hydro Development Corporation India Ltd., the Union Ministry of Environment, the Department of Environment and Forests, the state's Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development, the District Collector of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and the Tehsildar of Paithan.

Tehri Hydro Company is owned by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). The state government's Ministry of Energy has issued a tender for setting up a floating solar power project on Jayakwadi Dam.

The petition, filed by Advocates Asim Sarode and Shriya Awale, argues that such floating solar projects would be harmful to aquatic life and permanently damage the biodiversity of the protected bird sanctuary.

The dam provides water for drinking and agriculture, and covering it with solar panels could contaminate the water. Despite a notification by the state declaring Jayakwadi Nath Sagar as a bird sanctuary, there is an alleged political attempt to revoke this status, Advocate Shriya Awale noted in the NGT.

Advocate Asim Sarode accused the project of being a wasteful expenditure and an obstruction in the bird sanctuary area. He pointed out that the Jayakwadi Bird Sanctuary hosts 16 significant species, which would face permanent extinction due to the floating solar project. Therefore, he argued, the project should not be permitted.