Balancing energy ambitions and tribal rights: Closer look at pumped storage hydro power projects in Andhra https://www.counterview.in/2025/04/balancing-energy-ambitions-and-tribal.html Monday, April 14, 2025. in the Scheduled Areas of the Eastern Ghats, where tribal communities and environmental advocates are raising concerns over legal violations, displacement, and ecological degradation.
From 2022 to 2025, the state has sanctioned PSPs with a combined capacity of 8,700 megawatts, marking a significant expansion in hydroelectric storage development...
..under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution. Here, the transfer of land to non-tribals is explicitly restricted under the Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Area Land Transfer Regulation of 1970. The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in the Samata case further upheld that government land in Scheduled Areas cannot be leased or transferred to private entities comprising non-tribals.
Despite this, the state government has decided to hand over vast stretches of land to private developers — a total of 3,387 acres in both the Scheduled Areas and tribal-dominated Sub-Plan areas, including individual and forest lands — triggering widespread opposition from tribal organizations and legal experts...the legal process for project approvals in Scheduled Areas requires the informed consent of Gram Sabhas under PESA 1996 and the due involvement of the Tribal Advisory Council (TAC) under the Fifth Schedule. Any scheme or project that impacts the livelihoods of tribal communities shall be placed before the APTAC, a constitutional body under the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution, which advises the Governor on matters related to the welfare and advancement of tribals.
To date, there is no public record indicating that such consultations have been adequately conducted. The role of the New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NREDCAP), tasked with fast-tracking approvals, has also drawn scrutiny for bypassing critical environmental and social safeguards.