Maharashtra Solar Power Projects Displace 130 Families in Jalgaon
Sitting in her one-room raw-brick house in Bodhare village, in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district, Nimbabai Bima Savde, 55, was grieving her husband’s death. “He died of stress,” she said. “He was deceived into signing a land deal by a broker who claimed it was for the division of our family land.” But in reality, their farmland had been sold to a solar power company. “We depended on the land for survival; now we are struggling,” said Nimbabai, who belongs to a Scheduled Caste (SC) community.
Nimbabai’s family is among 130-odd farming families, spread across five villages (Lonje, Bodhare, Shivapur, Pimparkhed, and Ranjangaon), who allege that solar power companies deceived them into selling their land. An analysis of land records and satellite imagery reveals that the solar plants in question—currently owned by the JBM Group and the Avaada Group—are in violation of several extant laws and regulations. Spanning 1,100 acres (1 acre = 0.4 hectare), the plants cover a stretch of around 3.6 kilometres, north of the hills of the Gautala Autramghat Wildlife Sanctuary.
All the affected families belong to nomadic tribes, SCs, and minority communities and have been living in the area for at least seven decades. In the 1970s, they were allotted land under Class II category of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code of 1966. This category of land is designated for specific purposes, such as agriculture, and any sale, transfer, or conversion requires government approval.
In February 1986, the State government notified the Gautala Autramghat Wildlife Sanctuary, designating substantial portions of Shivapur and Bodhare villages as a protected area. Subsequently, in December 2016, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change designated a 1 sq km area around the sanctuary as an eco-sensitive zone (ESZ), listing Shivapur and Bodhare among the notified villages. (ESZs operate as buffer or transition zones around protected areas such as wildlife sanctuaries and national parks.)
Also Read | Did Azure Power grab tribal farming land in Assam for its solar plant?
Once an ESZ is notified, certain activities, such as commercial ventures, agriculture, and infrastructure development, are regulated or managed on the basis of the requirements of the specific ESZ. For farming families who continued to lawfully cultivate the land, neither of these notifications had any legal impact on the land’s use status.
The affected farmers say they were coerced into selling their land under false pretences. The farmers allege that brokers and company agents exploited the land’s ambiguous legal status to pressure and intimidate them, claiming it was government-owned and would be taken away regardless.
Nimbabai, 55, outside her home in Bodhare village. She is convinced that her husband died of stress after realising how he had been duped into selling his land.
| Photo Credit:
Mahmodul Hassan
The farmers were talked into signing deals at prices below government valuation, with promises of jobs and fair compensation that were not kept. In at least one case, land was fraudulently sold using impersonators in place of deceased farmers.
Exploitation of vulnerable communities
Amid the worldwide push for renewable energy, the allegations made by these farmers in Jalgaon raise critical questions about land rights, highlighting the exploitation of vulnerable communities and disregard for environmental regulations. In a November 2024 report titled “The Hidden Cost of Green Growth”, the data research firm Land Conflict Watch analysed the rising incidence of land-related conflicts triggered by the push for “green” energy.
The report documented 31 renewable energy project–related conflicts in India from 2005 to 2023 and found that all of them occurred in rural areas and almost 60 per cent of them involved land used for agriculture. About 20 per cent of the conflicts also involved violations of environmental law.
In Jalgaon, residents say that brokers and agents representing the companies began approaching them shortly before the 2016 ESZ notification, urging them to sell their land. Interviews with dozens of farmers across the five villages threw up a pattern of coercion: brokers claiming that the government owned the land and that it could be taken away at any time, and urging farmers to accept the price offered by the companies rather than risk legal battles for compensation.
Farmers of Bodhare village who were duped into underselling their land to solar power companies.
| Photo Credit:
Mahmodul Hassan
The farmers, who depended solely on agriculture, were reluctant to sell. Many also worked as seasonal farmhands outside the district for six months in the year and came back to the village to work on their own land for the rest of the year, earning between Rs.3 lakh and Rs.5 lakh annually. Company representatives and brokers visited repeatedly, promising employment in the plants to every family. When the farmers demanded fair prices, the brokers apparently promised varying amounts per acre.
The story of Harsingh Sakru Rathod
In 2016, Harsingh Sakru Rathod, 70, of Bodhare village was approached by an “agent”, identified by Bhimrao, an affected farmer and activist, as Gulab Babu Rathod, a resident of the same village. Harsingh asked for Rs.12 lakh an acre, but the broker offered Rs.10 lakh to Rs.11 lakh. However, the sale deed showed that his 4.942 acres were sold to Go Renewable on October 13, 2016, for just Rs.4,25,000. (Go Renewable, a green energy firm, merged with Fermi Solar, which is a unit of the Avaada Group, on September 28, 2017.)
Harsingh says he received only Rs.3 lakh, of which Rs.25,000 was taken by Gulab Rathod. The deed states that Harsingh was also paid Rs.1,25,000 in cash as “earnest money” on April 22, 2016, through an individual named Punjram Rama Dhumaal. (Earnest money is payment made by buyers to sellers to demonstrate intention to purchase.) Harsingh denies receiving any earnest money in cash from Punjaram. Bhimrao alleged that several farmers were similarly deceived by local brokers.
Harsingh Sakru Rathod of Bodhare village undersold his land to Go Renewable Energy Ltd.
| Photo Credit:
Mahmodul Hassan
The purchase price mentioned in Harsingh’s sale deed is far below the government valuation of Rs.8,73,000. This disparity marks over 50 per cent of the deals, as a study of the sale deeds reveals. Harsingh said he repeatedly asked Gulab Rathod for the promised price and jobs, but to no avail.
The story of Parshuram Deva Chauhan
In 2017, Parshuram Deva Chauhan, 75, was approached by company brokers who offered Rs.12 lakh an acre for his land and also jobs for his family members. Parshuram hesitated because he lived on the land and cared for a dargah there. The brokers promised he could keep his house, so he agreed. However, the sale deed showed that his 7.092 acres were sold to Fermi Solar on December 19, 2017, for Rs 12.6 lakh in total—85.2 per cent less than the promised price.
Parshuram said he repeatedly asked for the promised money, but company representatives threatened to jail him and demolished his house with a JCB in February 2018, a month after the sale deed was executed. Bhimrao identified the company representative who threatened Parshuram as one Altaf Thamboli, who appears to be an Avaada Group employee as seen on LinkedIn. The others could not be identified.
Farmers such as Nandu Appa Jadhav from Bodhare also reported constant pressure from brokers. In 2017, Gulab Rathod visited Nandu repeatedly, even at night, claiming the land was government property and would be taken back if he did not sell it for Rs.50,000 an acre. Another broker, Dyandev Anantrao Thube, offered Rs.1 lakh an acre. Nandu’s family eventually sold their 17 acres for Rs.33 lakh, 13.3 per cent below the government valuation of Rs.38.06 lakh.
How farmers were compelled to undersell
According to documents accessed from the sub-registrar’s office in the revenue department, between 2016 and 2019, JBM Solar Power Maharashtra Pvt. Ltd, Go Renewable Pvt. Ltd, and Fermi Solarfarms Pvt. Ltd (a unit of the Avaada Group) executed 73, 66, and 14 sale deeds, respectively. Of these 153 sale deeds, more than half (83) were executed at prices lower than the government valuation.
A comparative analysis of land records and satellite visuals shows that a significant portion of the project area falls within at least 309 acres (125 hectares) of the Gautala Autramghat Wildlife Sanctuary.
| Photo Credit:
Image created using Google Earth Pro
Nimbabai’s husband, Bhimrao Sakaram Savde, signed papers that he believed pertained to the division of land among his brothers. Only when Fermi Solar started occupying the land did the family realise that their land had been sold. In an even more egregious deception, Savde’s sale deed mentioned two deceased aunts—Shenpadabai Raghu Savde and Shambai Namdev Jadhav—as sellers, along with other family members. Fake thumbprints, voter IDs, and Aadhaar cards had been used for the sale deed. Shenpadabai died in 2012 and Shambai in 1985.
From a look at the land records and satellite imagery, the solar plants appear to have violated several legal provisions and seem to have been set up without necessary clearances. Portions of the plants have been constructed inside the Gautala Autramghat Wildlife Sanctuary and its ESZ in Shivapur and Bodhare villages. This is in breach of the Wild Life (Protection) Act (WPA) of 1972, the Environment (Protection) Act of 1986, and the Maharashtra Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act of 1948.
Government officials later approved these projects through questionable processes, bypassing legal requirements and ignoring early complaints from affected farmers. As protests escalated, farmers approached the judiciary, leading to a Bombay High Court observation that confirmed regulatory failures. The case is in court.
Highlights
-
Farmers in five villages of Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district have been duped into selling their agricultural land to solar power companies that used brokers to coerce and cajole the farmers.
-
The farmers were paid less than government valuation of their land. Several laws were violated, and the land in question was for agricultural use and could not be sold outside the families.
-
The farmers are now fighting back, and the case in in court. Meanwhile, the affected farmers are struggling to feed their families and are distressed over the loss of land they had cultivated for decades.
According to Bhushan Mahajan, a lawyer representing some of the farmers, the sale deeds violate Section 20 of the WPA, which states that after the issue of a notification for a wildlife sanctuary, “no right shall be acquired in, on or over the land within the limits of the area specified in such notification, except by succession, testamentary or intestate”. Mahajan explained what this means: “Once the Wild Life (Protection) Act is in place, one cannot sell and purchase the land, it can only be transferred to the owner’s legal heir. The deeds for transfer of property cannot even be executed.”
Violations of laws to protect nature and wildlife
A comparison of satellite visuals of the plants, land records, and the boundary of the wildlife sanctuary as defined by the 2016 ESZ notification reveals that Fermi Solar and JBM Solar set up projects on at least 309 acres of the wildlife sanctuary in Shivapur and Bodhare.
The construction also violates Section 29 of the WPA, which deals with destruction or damage of wildlife habitats and interference with water bodies; and Section 35(6), which makes permission from the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) mandatory for any activity that may interfere with wildlife habitats. None of the projects had sought approval from the NBWL or the State government.
Moreover, the three projects also intrude into the ESZ in Shivapur and Bodhare. Bhushan Mahajan and Bharat Chauhan, a Chalisgaon-based advocate representing the affected farmers, pointed out that the Maharashtra Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act stipulates that non-agriculturalists cannot buy land in an ESZ under Section 63-1 A of the Act.
A look at the projects’ timeline shows that in 2017, the companies began construction on the purchased land and kept buying more. On January 23, 2018, the Office of the Deputy Conservator of Forests, Jalgaon Forest Division, wrote to the three companies to immediately halt work in the Shivapur and Bodhare ESZ, saying that they could not construct anything without the permission of the ESZ monitoring committee. Thirteen days after the notice was issued, Fermi Solar applied to the Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife), Aurangabad, seeking permission for industrial use of land inside the ESZ. JBM Solar did not even apply for permission.
According to the committee’s minutes, the ESZ monitoring committee held a meeting on February 7, 2018, with only 5 of its 13 members present and passed a resolution to grant Fermi Solar permission with certain conditions. On February 9, 2018, the Deputy Conservator of Forests, Aurangabad, granted the company permission to set up a solar plant in the ESZ. The permission was granted without prior approval of the State government, which is mandatory under the ESZ notification.
Moreover, this decision was based on the observation of the ESZ monitoring committee that “the activity of solar project has been listed at Sr No. 37 under promoted activities” (according to the minutes). “Sr No. 37” is a section in the ESZ notification, and a look at the list of promoted activities under it shows that it only mentions “Use of Renewable Energy”.
Chauhan said that the committee took liberties with the interpretation of the phrase “Use of Renewable Energy”: “The words refer to using renewable energy—like solar-powered lights in the area—not its commercialisation or industrialisation,” he said.
Satellite images from the area captured in January 2018 clearly showed that one month before taking any formal permission, the companies had begun construction in the ESZ.
Farmers’ pushback
One of the first complaints against the projects was filed on September 26, 2017, by Kushal Chhagan Rathod from Lonje, against Go Renewable’s representatives Sanjay Rahate and Punjaram Dhumal, and Gulab Rathod. Kushal alleged that his mother was misled into selling land and had been promised Rs.8 lakh an acre and employment at the plant. The family eventually concluded the deal for a mere Rs.1.75 lakh for the land that was little under an acre. Kushal says they actually got only Rs.1.2 lakh, out of which they paid Rs.25,000 to Gulab Rathod.
The affected farmers, including Bhimrao, formed the Shetkari Bachav Kruti Samiti in 2018 once they realised they had been deceived. Between 2019 and 2022, the samiti or ganised several protests and approached multiple administrative offices, including the Chalisgaon tehsildar, the magistrate’s office, the Collector of Jalgaon, and a State government Minister, requesting action against the companies. In September 2021, the farmers staged indefinite protests at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan. The protest was called off after assurances of an inquiry from the administration.
A view of the sites of the solar plants from the hills at the Autramghat Wildlife Sanctuary.
| Photo Credit:
Mahmodul Hassan
On July 7, 2022, following a government order, the Collector of Jalgaon prepared an inquiry report. However, while the report included claims of the Shetkari Bachav Kruti Samiti and that of authorities on the projects being set up in an eco-sensitive zone and on “illegal” land purchases, it lacked clarity on who was responsible for the situation.
Bhimrao said that no action was taken by the authorities although the farmers kept following up on the case after the Collector’s report was released. On October 7, 2022, the farmers began protesting at the project site. On October 11, the protest turned violent, leading to the arrest of at least 40 farmers who were granted bail after a month.
In February 2023, the farmers decided to approach the Bombay High Court.
On March 6, 2023, the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court observed that the ESZ monitoring committee’s permission to Fermi Solar was illegal. The court also noted that Fermi Solar should have limited its activity to 300 acres but had spread its constructions over approximately 1,070 acres. This area was occupied by both Fermi Solar and JBM Solar. The court found that neither entity had obtained the required wildlife clearance, environmental clearance, or forest clearance.
Also Read | Hasdeo Arand and the manufacturing of tribal consent
An affidavit filed by Purushottam R. Sakhare, a scientist at the regional office of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Nagpur, confirmed that the NBWL did not receive any application seeking approval. On July 18, 2024, the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court sought clarification on the steps taken by the Central government to address the companies’ alleged failure to seek the required environmental clearances. The Centre has claimed that such approvals are the responsibility of State governments.
Queries were sent to the Collector of Jalgaon district and to JBM and Avaada, seeking their response to some of the issues raised by the farmers. They had not responded as of going to press.
Meanwhile, the affected farmers are struggling to feed their families and are deeply distressed over the loss of the land they cultivated for decades. “Now we are old. We have been demanding justice over the past seven years but are not getting it. How will we survive? Instead of getting justice, we were jailed,” said Shantibai, 75, a farmer who was jailed for 30 days following the October 2022 protests.
The question is, the wheels of justice may move slowly, but must they also crush the hapless?
Mahmodul Hassan is a Writing Fellow with Land Conflict Watch, an independent network of researchers conducting studies on natural resources.
Sitting in her one-room raw-brick house in Bodhare village, in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district, Nimbabai Bima Savde, 55, was grieving her husband’s death. “He died of stress,” she said. “He was deceived into signing a land deal by a broker who claimed it was for the division of our family land.” But in reality, their farmland had been sold to a solar power company. “We depended on the land for survival; now we are struggling,” said Nimbabai, who belongs to a Scheduled Caste (SC) community.
Nimbabai’s family is among 130-odd farming families, spread across five villages (Lonje, Bodhare, Shivapur, Pimparkhed, and Ranjangaon), who allege that solar power companies deceived them into selling their land. An analysis of land records and satellite imagery reveals that the solar plants in question—currently owned by the JBM Group and the Avaada Group—are in violation of several extant laws and regulations. Spanning 1,100 acres (1 acre = 0.4 hectare), the plants cover a stretch of around 3.6 kilometres, north of the hills of the Gautala Autramghat Wildlife Sanctuary.
All the affected families belong to nomadic tribes, SCs, and minority communities and have been living in the area for at least seven decades. In the 1970s, they were allotted land under Class II category of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code of 1966. This category of land is designated for specific purposes, such as agriculture, and any sale, transfer, or conversion requires government approval.
In February 1986, the State government notified the Gautala Autramghat Wildlife Sanctuary, designating substantial portions of Shivapur and Bodhare villages as a protected area. Subsequently, in December 2016, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change designated a 1 sq km area around the sanctuary as an eco-sensitive zone (ESZ), listing Shivapur and Bodhare among the notified villages. (ESZs operate as buffer or transition zones around protected areas such as wildlife sanctuaries and national parks.)
Also Read | Did Azure Power grab tribal farming land in Assam for its solar plant?
Once an ESZ is notified, certain activities, such as commercial ventures, agriculture, and infrastructure development, are regulated or managed on the basis of the requirements of the specific ESZ. For farming families who continued to lawfully cultivate the land, neither of these notifications had any legal impact on the land’s use status.
The affected farmers say they were coerced into selling their land under false pretences. The farmers allege that brokers and company agents exploited the land’s ambiguous legal status to pressure and intimidate them, claiming it was government-owned and would be taken away regardless.
Nimbabai, 55, outside her home in Bodhare village. She is convinced that her husband died of stress after realising how he had been duped into selling his land.
| Photo Credit:
Mahmodul Hassan
The farmers were talked into signing deals at prices below government valuation, with promises of jobs and fair compensation that were not kept. In at least one case, land was fraudulently sold using impersonators in place of deceased farmers.
Exploitation of vulnerable communities
Amid the worldwide push for renewable energy, the allegations made by these farmers in Jalgaon raise critical questions about land rights, highlighting the exploitation of vulnerable communities and disregard for environmental regulations. In a November 2024 report titled “The Hidden Cost of Green Growth”, the data research firm Land Conflict Watch analysed the rising incidence of land-related conflicts triggered by the push for “green” energy.
The report documented 31 renewable energy project–related conflicts in India from 2005 to 2023 and found that all of them occurred in rural areas and almost 60 per cent of them involved land used for agriculture. About 20 per cent of the conflicts also involved violations of environmental law.
In Jalgaon, residents say that brokers and agents representing the companies began approaching them shortly before the 2016 ESZ notification, urging them to sell their land. Interviews with dozens of farmers across the five villages threw up a pattern of coercion: brokers claiming that the government owned the land and that it could be taken away at any time, and urging farmers to accept the price offered by the companies rather than risk legal battles for compensation.
Farmers of Bodhare village who were duped into underselling their land to solar power companies.
| Photo Credit:
Mahmodul Hassan
The farmers, who depended solely on agriculture, were reluctant to sell. Many also worked as seasonal farmhands outside the district for six months in the year and came back to the village to work on their own land for the rest of the year, earning between Rs.3 lakh and Rs.5 lakh annually. Company representatives and brokers visited repeatedly, promising employment in the plants to every family. When the farmers demanded fair prices, the brokers apparently promised varying amounts per acre.
The story of Harsingh Sakru Rathod
In 2016, Harsingh Sakru Rathod, 70, of Bodhare village was approached by an “agent”, identified by Bhimrao, an affected farmer and activist, as Gulab Babu Rathod, a resident of the same village. Harsingh asked for Rs.12 lakh an acre, but the broker offered Rs.10 lakh to Rs.11 lakh. However, the sale deed showed that his 4.942 acres were sold to Go Renewable on October 13, 2016, for just Rs.4,25,000. (Go Renewable, a green energy firm, merged with Fermi Solar, which is a unit of the Avaada Group, on September 28, 2017.)
Harsingh says he received only Rs.3 lakh, of which Rs.25,000 was taken by Gulab Rathod. The deed states that Harsingh was also paid Rs.1,25,000 in cash as “earnest money” on April 22, 2016, through an individual named Punjram Rama Dhumaal. (Earnest money is payment made by buyers to sellers to demonstrate intention to purchase.) Harsingh denies receiving any earnest money in cash from Punjaram. Bhimrao alleged that several farmers were similarly deceived by local brokers.
Harsingh Sakru Rathod of Bodhare village undersold his land to Go Renewable Energy Ltd.
| Photo Credit:
Mahmodul Hassan
The purchase price mentioned in Harsingh’s sale deed is far below the government valuation of Rs.8,73,000. This disparity marks over 50 per cent of the deals, as a study of the sale deeds reveals. Harsingh said he repeatedly asked Gulab Rathod for the promised price and jobs, but to no avail.
The story of Parshuram Deva Chauhan
In 2017, Parshuram Deva Chauhan, 75, was approached by company brokers who offered Rs.12 lakh an acre for his land and also jobs for his family members. Parshuram hesitated because he lived on the land and cared for a dargah there. The brokers promised he could keep his house, so he agreed. However, the sale deed showed that his 7.092 acres were sold to Fermi Solar on December 19, 2017, for Rs 12.6 lakh in total—85.2 per cent less than the promised price.
Parshuram said he repeatedly asked for the promised money, but company representatives threatened to jail him and demolished his house with a JCB in February 2018, a month after the sale deed was executed. Bhimrao identified the company representative who threatened Parshuram as one Altaf Thamboli, who appears to be an Avaada Group employee as seen on LinkedIn. The others could not be identified.
Farmers such as Nandu Appa Jadhav from Bodhare also reported constant pressure from brokers. In 2017, Gulab Rathod visited Nandu repeatedly, even at night, claiming the land was government property and would be taken back if he did not sell it for Rs.50,000 an acre. Another broker, Dyandev Anantrao Thube, offered Rs.1 lakh an acre. Nandu’s family eventually sold their 17 acres for Rs.33 lakh, 13.3 per cent below the government valuation of Rs.38.06 lakh.
How farmers were compelled to undersell
According to documents accessed from the sub-registrar’s office in the revenue department, between 2016 and 2019, JBM Solar Power Maharashtra Pvt. Ltd, Go Renewable Pvt. Ltd, and Fermi Solarfarms Pvt. Ltd (a unit of the Avaada Group) executed 73, 66, and 14 sale deeds, respectively. Of these 153 sale deeds, more than half (83) were executed at prices lower than the government valuation.
A comparative analysis of land records and satellite visuals shows that a significant portion of the project area falls within at least 309 acres (125 hectares) of the Gautala Autramghat Wildlife Sanctuary.
| Photo Credit:
Image created using Google Earth Pro
Nimbabai’s husband, Bhimrao Sakaram Savde, signed papers that he believed pertained to the division of land among his brothers. Only when Fermi Solar started occupying the land did the family realise that their land had been sold. In an even more egregious deception, Savde’s sale deed mentioned two deceased aunts—Shenpadabai Raghu Savde and Shambai Namdev Jadhav—as sellers, along with other family members. Fake thumbprints, voter IDs, and Aadhaar cards had been used for the sale deed. Shenpadabai died in 2012 and Shambai in 1985.
From a look at the land records and satellite imagery, the solar plants appear to have violated several legal provisions and seem to have been set up without necessary clearances. Portions of the plants have been constructed inside the Gautala Autramghat Wildlife Sanctuary and its ESZ in Shivapur and Bodhare villages. This is in breach of the Wild Life (Protection) Act (WPA) of 1972, the Environment (Protection) Act of 1986, and the Maharashtra Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act of 1948.
Government officials later approved these projects through questionable processes, bypassing legal requirements and ignoring early complaints from affected farmers. As protests escalated, farmers approached the judiciary, leading to a Bombay High Court observation that confirmed regulatory failures. The case is in court.
Highlights
- Farmers in five villages of Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district have been duped into selling their agricultural land to solar power companies that used brokers to coerce and cajole the farmers.
- The farmers were paid less than government valuation of their land. Several laws were violated, and the land in question was for agricultural use and could not be sold outside the families.
- The farmers are now fighting back, and the case in in court. Meanwhile, the affected farmers are struggling to feed their families and are distressed over the loss of land they had cultivated for decades.
According to Bhushan Mahajan, a lawyer representing some of the farmers, the sale deeds violate Section 20 of the WPA, which states that after the issue of a notification for a wildlife sanctuary, “no right shall be acquired in, on or over the land within the limits of the area specified in such notification, except by succession, testamentary or intestate”. Mahajan explained what this means: “Once the Wild Life (Protection) Act is in place, one cannot sell and purchase the land, it can only be transferred to the owner’s legal heir. The deeds for transfer of property cannot even be executed.”
Violations of laws to protect nature and wildlife
A comparison of satellite visuals of the plants, land records, and the boundary of the wildlife sanctuary as defined by the 2016 ESZ notification reveals that Fermi Solar and JBM Solar set up projects on at least 309 acres of the wildlife sanctuary in Shivapur and Bodhare.
The construction also violates Section 29 of the WPA, which deals with destruction or damage of wildlife habitats and interference with water bodies; and Section 35(6), which makes permission from the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) mandatory for any activity that may interfere with wildlife habitats. None of the projects had sought approval from the NBWL or the State government.
Moreover, the three projects also intrude into the ESZ in Shivapur and Bodhare. Bhushan Mahajan and Bharat Chauhan, a Chalisgaon-based advocate representing the affected farmers, pointed out that the Maharashtra Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act stipulates that non-agriculturalists cannot buy land in an ESZ under Section 63-1 A of the Act.
A look at the projects’ timeline shows that in 2017, the companies began construction on the purchased land and kept buying more. On January 23, 2018, the Office of the Deputy Conservator of Forests, Jalgaon Forest Division, wrote to the three companies to immediately halt work in the Shivapur and Bodhare ESZ, saying that they could not construct anything without the permission of the ESZ monitoring committee. Thirteen days after the notice was issued, Fermi Solar applied to the Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife), Aurangabad, seeking permission for industrial use of land inside the ESZ. JBM Solar did not even apply for permission.
According to the committee’s minutes, the ESZ monitoring committee held a meeting on February 7, 2018, with only 5 of its 13 members present and passed a resolution to grant Fermi Solar permission with certain conditions. On February 9, 2018, the Deputy Conservator of Forests, Aurangabad, granted the company permission to set up a solar plant in the ESZ. The permission was granted without prior approval of the State government, which is mandatory under the ESZ notification.
Moreover, this decision was based on the observation of the ESZ monitoring committee that “the activity of solar project has been listed at Sr No. 37 under promoted activities” (according to the minutes). “Sr No. 37” is a section in the ESZ notification, and a look at the list of promoted activities under it shows that it only mentions “Use of Renewable Energy”.
Chauhan said that the committee took liberties with the interpretation of the phrase “Use of Renewable Energy”: “The words refer to using renewable energy—like solar-powered lights in the area—not its commercialisation or industrialisation,” he said.
Satellite images from the area captured in January 2018 clearly showed that one month before taking any formal permission, the companies had begun construction in the ESZ.
Farmers’ pushback
One of the first complaints against the projects was filed on September 26, 2017, by Kushal Chhagan Rathod from Lonje, against Go Renewable’s representatives Sanjay Rahate and Punjaram Dhumal, and Gulab Rathod. Kushal alleged that his mother was misled into selling land and had been promised Rs.8 lakh an acre and employment at the plant. The family eventually concluded the deal for a mere Rs.1.75 lakh for the land that was little under an acre. Kushal says they actually got only Rs.1.2 lakh, out of which they paid Rs.25,000 to Gulab Rathod.
The affected farmers, including Bhimrao, formed the Shetkari Bachav Kruti Samiti in 2018 once they realised they had been deceived. Between 2019 and 2022, the samiti or ganised several protests and approached multiple administrative offices, including the Chalisgaon tehsildar, the magistrate’s office, the Collector of Jalgaon, and a State government Minister, requesting action against the companies. In September 2021, the farmers staged indefinite protests at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan. The protest was called off after assurances of an inquiry from the administration.
A view of the sites of the solar plants from the hills at the Autramghat Wildlife Sanctuary.
| Photo Credit:
Mahmodul Hassan
On July 7, 2022, following a government order, the Collector of Jalgaon prepared an inquiry report. However, while the report included claims of the Shetkari Bachav Kruti Samiti and that of authorities on the projects being set up in an eco-sensitive zone and on “illegal” land purchases, it lacked clarity on who was responsible for the situation.
Bhimrao said that no action was taken by the authorities although the farmers kept following up on the case after the Collector’s report was released. On October 7, 2022, the farmers began protesting at the project site. On October 11, the protest turned violent, leading to the arrest of at least 40 farmers who were granted bail after a month.
In February 2023, the farmers decided to approach the Bombay High Court.
On March 6, 2023, the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court observed that the ESZ monitoring committee’s permission to Fermi Solar was illegal. The court also noted that Fermi Solar should have limited its activity to 300 acres but had spread its constructions over approximately 1,070 acres. This area was occupied by both Fermi Solar and JBM Solar. The court found that neither entity had obtained the required wildlife clearance, environmental clearance, or forest clearance.
Also Read | Hasdeo Arand and the manufacturing of tribal consent
An affidavit filed by Purushottam R. Sakhare, a scientist at the regional office of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Nagpur, confirmed that the NBWL did not receive any application seeking approval. On July 18, 2024, the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court sought clarification on the steps taken by the Central government to address the companies’ alleged failure to seek the required environmental clearances. The Centre has claimed that such approvals are the responsibility of State governments.
Queries were sent to the Collector of Jalgaon district and to JBM and Avaada, seeking their response to some of the issues raised by the farmers. They had not responded as of going to press.
Meanwhile, the affected farmers are struggling to feed their families and are deeply distressed over the loss of the land they cultivated for decades. “Now we are old. We have been demanding justice over the past seven years but are not getting it. How will we survive? Instead of getting justice, we were jailed,” said Shantibai, 75, a farmer who was jailed for 30 days following the October 2022 protests.
The question is, the wheels of justice may move slowly, but must they also crush the hapless?
Mahmodul Hassan is a Writing Fellow with Land Conflict Watch, an independent network of researchers conducting studies on natural resources.
