Karnataka High Court Halts Sharawathi Hydropower Project Over Wildlife Habitat Concerns

In a public interest litigation challenging the proposed Sharavathi Pumped Storage Project (Sharavathi PSP) and Kalkatte Bridge Construction, the Karnataka High Court has expressed preliminary concerns about possible habitat destruction inside the Sharawathi Wildlife Sanctuary.

The Principal Bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakru and Justice C M Poonacha observed in the interim order that Sharavathi is a preserved habitat for lion-tailed macaques. The question of whether the proposed project would result in the destruction of their habitat requires impact assessment, the court added.

“We are not closing this PIL… No activities should be undertaken on the ground in furtherance of the project without further orders within the boundaries of the eco sensitive zone”, the court orally remarked, adding that no preliminary activities would be allowed inside the wildlife sanctuary pending the Wildlife Board's approval.

The State had earlier argued that the petition itself was premature since the principal approval/ clearances for the proposed project are pending.

Today, Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd. iterated their contention that there is no impediment in Section 29 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 in carrying out non-forest activities. To make it clear, the Corporation relied on the apex court judgment in Essar Oil Ltd v. Halar Utkarsh Samiti & Ors to assert that there is no blanket ban on any developmental activity in Section 29.

The respondent state authorities also argued briefly that the proposed pump project would be built in an area outside the natural habitat of lion-tailed macaques where feasibility studies have been conducted. The court, in turn, remarked that even the destruction of the canopy could fragment the wildlife community. Hence, the court gave a clear mandate not to undertake any preliminary activities on the ground prior to the obtaining of clearance.

However, as per the petitioner, Section 29 of WPA prohibits any person from destroying, exploiting or removing any wild life including forest produce from a sanctuary or destroy or damage or divert the habitat of any wild animal by any act whatsoever without the permission by the Chief Wild Life Warden. It further proscribes granting of such permission unless the State Government has been satisfied in consultation with the National Board for Wild Life, that such removal of wild life from the sanctuary or change in the flow of the water into or outside the sanctuary is necessary "for the improvement and better management of wild life therein”.

Any authority that is a stakeholder in the matter should be cognizant of the fact that this court has its concerns regarding the project. Hence, the current order has been pronounced, the court clarified today.

Earlier, on 05.03.2026, the court had observed that the construction of the project would be prima facie in violation of Section 29 of the WPA. The petition was filed seeking a writ of certiorari against the state authorities by contending that setting up of the project would be debilitating to the ecosystem and destructive to the wild life

Case Title: Akhilesh Chipli vs Union of India

Case No: WP 6090/2026