Scrapped Solar Parks in Spiti Would Have Impacted Snow Leopards, Finds Study

On the whole, India has 718 snow leopards, according to the Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India.

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A total of 13 sites for large-scale solar parks – once planned in the high-altitude Spiti Valley, and now scrapped – would have impacted the snow leopard habitat in this rich biodiverse region of Himachal Pradesh, a study has found.

Snow leopard is the state animal of Himachal Pradesh. Often called 'the ghost of the mountains', the elusive animal is considered a flagship and an indicator species across 12 Central and South Asian countries.

The study, which has been jointly conducted by Mysuru-based non-profit Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), US-based Snow Leopard Trust, and Bengaluru-headquartered research centre National Centre for Biological Sciences, points out that the “potential negative effects of green energy, especially concerning local biodiversity, are frequently overlooked.”

While renewable energy – hydro, solar and wind – generally have low carbon emission, they are often land-use intensive and require more water. All the proposed solar sites were under high snow leopard suitability habitat.

As a result, the study, which has been published in journal Biological Conservation, concludes that "the measure of 'avoid' i.e. no construction of any solar plants, is likely the most effective in reconciling green energy developmental and conservation aims."

Renewable Energy vs Wildlife Conservation

India is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases behind the United States and China.

The country is committed to the generation of 500 GW of energy from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. As far as solar energy is concerned, India launched the National Solar Mission in 2010 with a target of developing 20 GW of solar energy by 2022. This was revised to 100 GW in 2014.

Altogether, 34 solar parks were approved by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in 2016. Thirteen sites for the solar park were identified in Spiti. According to the study, the proposed and now scrapped project was an 880 MW solar park, with the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd as the solar power park developer.

Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd is a public sector utility jointly owned by the Centre and the Himachal Pradesh government. The project, supported by the World Bank, was to come up on 3,104 hectares of land.

Kashmir-based Munib Khanyari, one of the authors of the said study who has worked extensively in Himachal Pradesh, says that though the solar plants had been sanctioned, they did not go through. "There were financial constraints which led to the cancellation," he adds.

Meanwhile, retired officer Ajay Thakur, who worked for the forest department of Himachal Pradesh, informs The Quint that the project was shelved last year due to the huge investment needed in the construction of the system to transmit power.

“It was not economically viable to carry generated power from the plant to the grid for distribution. Diversion of forestland was also involved.”

Ajay Thakur

The Upper Spiti Landscape in the Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh has an elevation of 3,500–6,700 metres and covers 3,944 square km.

Temperatures here range from -40 degrees Celsius in winter to 30 degrees Celsius in summer. The region gets a lot of snowfall. The human population – most of whom are agro-pastoralists – stands at about 15,000 across 95 villages. Many have opened homestays to cater to the high tourism demand.

It is in this region that the snow leopard thrives.

On the whole, India has 718 snow leopards spread across Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, among others, according to the Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India. Himachal Pradesh has about 75 of them.

'Development From a Conservation Lens'

Talking to The Quint, Khanyari explains the "larger implications" of solar parks in Spiti and otherwise. He explains that the study team used camera trap data and distribution modelling to find the areas populated by snow leopards in Spiti.

They found that all the 13 solar sites are among the best snow leopard habitats.

As the study points out, often renewable projects use vast tracts of land. Indian Forest Service officer Mandar Jeware, who is the deputy conservator of forests of Spiti Wildlife Division in Kaza town, says that if mega solar plants come up on the vast swathes of land in Spiti, this may "fragment" snow leopard habitats.

"If projects are planned in vast pasture lands and plateau areas of Spiti, then it would lead to fragmentation of the habitats of prey species of snow leopards such as blue sheep and the Himalayan ibex."

So, what does the study propose? “A framework called the mitigation hierarchy is used. It allows the reconciliation of development projects with wildlife conservation," Khanyari says.

"If a project looks bad, it should be avoided or there should be efforts made to try and minimise the damage. If the damage cannot be minimised, then there should be remediation – that is, the project goes through, and at the same time, something better is done for wildlife. Last of all, there is the offset factor which means that the project should go on as planned and conservation is carried out in another area.”

In the case of Spiti, the study advocated for 'avoiding' any construction – and instead of high conservation value locations, shift any solar plant to areas of lower snow leopard suitability.

“There is no opposition to the development of green energy, but it is important to raise the issue of development from the conservation perspective and reconcile both.”

Munib Khanyari

'Solar Project Sites Important for Local Communities'

Khanyari’s colleague Ajay Bijoor informs The Quint that many sites in Spiti are categorised as wastelands (almost 75 percent of the total geographical area of Lahaul and Spiti) – and that is the reason they are opened up for development projects.

“However, these sites are important for local communities – and are not wastelands. They are used as pastures for livestock grazing,” Bijoor adds.

Tenzin Thinley, a farmer in Kibber village in Spiti, says people in the region depend on livestock for livelihood. "They keep animals like sheep, horse and yak," he adds.

As India is geared up to fulfil its green energy commitments, the need of the hour is a dialogue about what the locals think about the importance of biodiversity as well as green energy, Bijoor opines.

Koustubh Sharma, who works for Snow Leopard Trust, says it is certainly possible to reconcile developmental projects like solar by working with communities.

“For instance, their rooftops and lands along the roads can be used instead of areas that have rich and rare biodiversity.”

Koustubh Sharma

According to him, development and biodiversity conservation can go hand in hand if projects are biodiversity friendly. “There are several such examples from across the world, and where needed, appropriate mitigation measures should be undertaken to minimise impacts of development initiatives.” Sharma says.

Though India still depends on coal for energy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the country would achieve net zero emissions by 2070 at United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow in 2021.

In future, too, large-scale solar projects may come up in Spiti or other rich biodiverse regions. For instance, in the Changthang area of Ladakh, a solar plant is being planned.

Among the renewables, solar is the most dominant form of clean energy. Large-scale solar is cheap. The fact that it is exempted from the environmental impact assessment is an advantage.

But there are issues in solar energy, and these are land-use changes which can involve conflict over acquisition, loss of livelihood of local people and their displacement, and the payment of appropriate compensation, says Arvind Poswal, programme officer, renewable energy at the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment.

“These are vast projects requiring land. For one megawatt of solar project, there is need of about five to six acres of land. There is barely any project less than five,” Poswal explains.

He suggests alternatives such as floating solar plants that can come up in water bodies and distributed solar energy which leads to value addition like more affordable and reliable electricity and the creation of jobs.