Ecological risks in clean power transmission

The decision by the Central Electricity Authority to revise the Right-of-Way (RoW) requirements for constructing transmission lines in forest areas is significant for forest conservation in the Northeast region. The revision has reduced RoW requirements in forest areas by up to 20%, thereby significantly minimising tree felling and the overall impact on forest ecosystems. In ecologically fragile areas, reducing tree felling for linear infrastructure projects, such as electrical transmission lines, is crucial. The region is staring at a massive forest diversion, with rapidly rising demand for the evacuation of power to industrial zones in the rest of India to meet their increasing electricity demands. The revision of ROW will mitigate the forest footprints of the mega electrical transmission projects. The ‘Master Plan for Evacuation of Power from Hydroelectric Plants in the Brahmaputra Basin’, prepared by the Central Electricity Authority, estimates that more than 31,000 circuit km of electrical transmission lines are planned to be constructed in two phases – by the year 2035 and beyond 2035 in the basin. The physical distance of these transmission lines will vary from around 15,000 km in the case of double-circuit lines or two circuits per transmission tower to 8,000 km in the case of multi-circuit or four-circuit lines per tower. Given that hydropower projects are in forested areas, these figures indicate the significant potential for tree felling during the construction of transmission lines in the region to evacuate surplus hydropower. A strip of land is required to be cleared for the transmission lines to prevent tree branches getting close to the wire and causing short-circuits and grid failure. A message from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to the States says that new technology has led to better designs for towers and poles that need less space, smaller bases, and narrower areas to clear. It further states that the Ministry of Power shall issue appropriate advisories/guidelines to all states and union territories and power transmission agencies for encouraging the adoption of improved tower configurations and advanced conductor technologies for the new installation of transmission lines in forest areas, thereby reducing the need for forest areas as right-of-way. The old rules for the width of forest areas needed for power lines will be new. Narrower standards will replace the old rules for the width of forest areas needed for power lines. with new, narrower standards. A strong oversight mechanism will be required to ensure that power transmission agencies adopt the revised RoW to achieve the intended goal. The Forest Advisory Committee, while recommending the adoption of reduced RoW, observed that the adoption of improved tower configurations and advanced technologies is expected to substantially reduce the extent of forest land required, minimise tree felling and habitat disturbance, and consequently lower the ecological impact on forest flora and fauna. Nevertheless, even with reduced RoW, construction of electrical transmission lines will lead to clearing of canopies and fragmentation of wildlife habitats. This harsh reality implies that mitigation measures for habitat fragmentation cannot be eased and must be reinforced with greater transparency to prevent human-wildlife conflict, the possibility of which increases due to the fragmentation of their habitat, compelling them to explore alternate routes, often into human settlements. Massive forest diversion is involved not just in the construction of hydropower project dams but also in the construction of electrical lines for the evacuation of surplus power, exposing the contradiction at the heart of the renewable energy push in India: these green projects slice through the forests and add to ecological stress on account of climate change impacts. The clamour for a comprehensive assessment of the cumulative impact of these clean energy projects and electrical transmission lines is likely to increase as people realise that clearance for tree felling in each project cannot be delinked from its long-term impact on landscape-level forest ecology. Increased public scrutiny, driven by a more profound understanding of climate change and the rise of extreme weather events in the region, is prompting local residents to question the sustainability of commercial exploitation of natural resources, especially when the demand for electricity in the region is expected to be significantly lower than the projected generation. Recent devastation caused by torrential rainfall and landslides in Arunachal Pradesh is a wake-up call against leaving gaps in environmental safeguards while pushing for linear projects like roads and electrical transmission lines cutting through forest areas in the region. Reduced RoW should not be allowed. Power transmission agencies should not be permitted to exploit reduced RoW as a justification for widespread forest diversion. This would essentially provide power transmission agencies with unrestricted authority to conduct extensive forest diversions. By strengthening their monitoring and evaluation of the power transmission projects, the state forest departments of the region can significantly improve the enforcement of mitigation measures needed to offset the ecological damage. The new norm for RoW raises hope, but such hope is fragile, as without strong oversight even narrower transmission corridors can aggravate climate change risks in the Northeast.