Over the past few years, several renewable energy projects in western Rajasthan have run into trouble with local communities trying to claim government land as oran – parcels used for grazing with perceived cultural and religious significance. This week, a 600-MW solar project by Adani Green Energy Limited has found itself at the centre of a controversy in Jaisalmer.
Villagers from Baiya, who had last month written to state and union departments after passing a resolution against the possible allocation of a government plot to the company, tried to stop the installation of a switchyard for the project on Wednesday.
While the switchyard was being installed on private land acquired by the company, locals are objecting to the project at this stage considering the anticipated acquisition of government land surrounding the private plot.
After an altercation with police personnel present on the spot, 14 were arrested under section 170 (preventive arrest) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and around 30 detained. The protest soon turned political. After learning about the arrests, Sheo MLA Ravindra Singh Bhati sat on a dharna and refused to budge until protesters were released. The wish was granted.
The MLA tweeted: “For years, our ancestors have sacrificed their lives to save rare tree species in orans. Today, in Baiya village, private firms have forcefully begun work and started cutting trees around temples and the sacred oran. It’s highly condemnable and unscrupulous that the police beat up and arrested people who are raising their voice against this injustice.”
Surjaram Jakhar, station house officer of Jhinjhinyali police station, said the villagers want the government land surrounding the private plot to be declared as “oran”.
Jaisalmer SP Sudheer Choudhary told Newslaundry that “the private firm” was in “the process of acquiring the government land”, and that the protest was led by one group in the village because they were denied sub-contracts.
Locals denied the claim, referring to letters written to various authorities.
Last month, villagers from Baiya had written to the Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation, a government undertaking, demanding that Adani should not be allotted the government land for “protection of ecology and their religious site”. The letter was also shared with top bureaucrats in the BJP-led Rajasthan government as well as the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
Baiya gram panchayat had also passed a resolution that said that the government land should be recorded as ‘oran’ in revenue records under the name of a local deity. The land in Baiya has a few temples and is used for parikrama on auspicious days.
Meanwhile, the protest still continues. “We won’t move until the government land is registered as oran in revenue records,” said Ram Singh Bhati, a protester who was among the 14 arrested.
Under British rule?
With a population of around 1,500, Baiya village depends on agriculture and livestock rearing. Some of the protesters told Newslaundry that their agitation would continue until the government and the company leave the land.
Moti Singh, a 36-year-old villager, was among the 14 arrested on Wednesday. “Our ancestors left this land as oran. This land is now owned by the government. For years, we have not cut any trees as they are sacred. Even if there is private land in oran, we don’t cut any trees in this area. And Adani is trying to acquire this land… There are three-four temples of our local deity: Ainath ji.”
Chobh Singh Bhati, a panchayat samiti member who was also among the arrested, said the acquisition of government land would deny them grazing rights. “I have around 50 cows and several goats and sheep. Once the pasture land is taken, where would I take my livestock for grazing?” asked the 60-year-old.
Ram Singh Bhati, 21, lamented that the village could not get the government land recorded as oran. “There are innumerable trees on that land where we can’t even cut a branch. All trees and plants on that land are symbols of our faith. The administration is colluding with Adani to take away this land.”
Long struggle to protect oran
Before independence, monarchs and their subordinates would set aside orans in the name of local deities. These orans, featuring sparse vegetation, water bodies and even temples, would be used for livestock grazing, collection of natural produce and were locally considered sacred. “Even the branch of a tree can't be cut from oran — registered or unregistered,” claimed a protester.
But after independence, plots locals consider as unregistered orans have been classified as wastelands in revenue records despite biodiversity and agricultural significance.
“Earlier, unregistered orans were not facing any threat of takeover. When renewable energy companies started setting their plants in such land, locals woke up to the challenge and demanded registration,” said Sumit Dookia, an expert on Thar ecology and associate professor at the University School of Environment Management, GGS Indraprastha University.
The movement to protect what locals saw as unregistered orans from renewable power companies in Jaisalmer began in 2016 and intensified in March 2020. Meanwhile, in Bikaner and Jodhpur, the fight has been chiefly focussed on protecting khejris — the state tree — which are considered sacred by the Bishnoi community.
Sumer Singh of ‘Team Oran’, a group advocating for the protection of oran ecology and local cultural sentiments linked to it, has been at the forefront of the battle in Jaisalmer.
Team Oran and other volunteers have submitted several memorandums to the district administration in Jaisalmer. “I have lost count how many times we have met the district magistrate for protection of unregistered orans. It could be five to 10 visits to the DM office in a month. Depending on the issue, it could be 20 visits a month. We have walked a total 2,000 km during 15 visits. Once, we walked 300 km across Jaisalmer before reaching the DM office and submitted memorandums collected from villages on the route,” claimed Sumer.
Jaisalmer DM Pratap Singh Nathawat has not responded to calls or messages for comment.
Ahead of the November 2023 assembly polls, the Congress-led Ashok Gehlot government got around seven government plots, measuring 36,000 bighas in Jaisalmer, registered as oran, said Sumer Singh.
But what complicated the matter was a state government notification in February this year that all registered orans would be declared ‘deemed forests’ as per a 2018 direction of the Supreme Court. This meant that such orans would be transferred from the revenue department to the forest department. Under the notification, around 2.02 lakh hectares of registered oran in Jaisalmer was proposed to be listed as ‘deemed forests’.
Local leaders in Jaisalmer objected to it, fearing possible restrictions on accessing such landscape for grazing of livestock and collection of natural produce.
“We are not against solar projects. Our only demand is that grazing land should be registered as oran without handing over the ownership to the forest department. Orans are devbhumi and should be in the name of the temple committees,” said Bhopal Singh from Jaisalmer and a member of Team Oran.
Villages in Jaisalmer and local leaders have written letters to the forest department objecting to the ‘deemed forest’ notification.
Last month, the state government issued another notification and formed district-wise committees for objections to the February notification.
“The deemed forest tag does not take away the right of local communities from using natural resources. Their rights would remain intact,” said Sumit Dookia.
Anil Kumar Chhangani, head of environmental science department at Maharaja Ganga Singh University in Bikaner, said it was high time the government woke up to the ecological and livelihood impact of solar projects on “wasteland”.
“Suppose there is a wasteland of 100 hectares where hundreds of camels, goats, cows, and lambs are grazing. These livestock annual cost of fodder would be in crores. Besides, all kinds of wild species — birds, insects, mammals, reptiles — are surviving there. They are also serving the agricultural needs. In such an ecosystem, pollinators are as important as tigers,” he said. He said during the Covid period, villages did not run out of dairy products because there was no dearth of fodder for livestock, thanks to grazing land. “But solar projects threaten this food chain,” he said.
Assembly discussion
Livestock rearing contributes around 30 percent of the agricultural gross value added (GVA) in the country. At 5.68 crore, Rajasthan stands second in the head count of livestock in India after Uttar Pradesh, according to the livestock census of 2019. The state is the first in all India wool production (48 percent of the country’s production) and is the second largest milk producing state after UP.
The acquisition of “unregistered orans” by renewable power firms has been raised in the state assembly. In September this year, Jaisalmer BJP MLA Chottu Singh said allocation of such land for solar and wind projects has shrunk grazing area and forced pastoralists to migrate to other areas. “The government should earmark such oran-grazing land for its protection (and prevention of migration),” he said.
Newslaundry reached out to Adani group and Om Kasera, managing director of Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Limited, with a questionnaire. This copy will be updated upon response.
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