Click to play videoSatara (Maharashtra): The backwaters of the Koyna dam and valleys lined with windmills are just some of the enchanting views at New Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra - but not for long.
The area has now been demarcated in the Government's development blueprint as a huge tourism hot spot to be created at a cost of Rs 800 crore and shockingly, the green signal has been given by an environmental report.
For a layman, the huge plateau is nothing but barren land, but experts say there are many mysteries here just waiting to be discovered.
Come July and the arid plateau changes into a riot of green and the valley becomes an world ecological heritage site of sorts with rare fan-throated lizards and snakes that were thought to be extinct making surprise visits.
The beauty of the plateau and its status as a heritage ecological site has been captured in a documentary shot by film maker Dilip Dongre. The documentary has opened the eyes of experts who now feel that the New Mahabaleshwar Project will endanger these species.
Says the President of Elements of Nature Conservation Association, Professor V Y Deshpande, "Our objection is against the report itself. We are not objecting against the project. We have found snakes, which were discovered by our team after 52 years. No living specimen was found in last 50 years. And then we have discovered a 'Gecko' and we are going to name it. And this is probably the first record in the world. As far as reptiles are concerned,we have found two new species."
Experts allege that the report on which the project received environmental clearance is doctored.
The report has been made by Saral Envirotech for MSRDC and makes no mention of these animals and plants that dot the area. Instead the report only mentions the common specimens which are in fact plantations and not local.
None of the specimens mentioned are endangered and hence their names do not attract any attention from environmentalists.
Says environmentalist Debi Goenka, "The report that has been produced has been done with only one objective - to get the project cleared no matter what and in a situation like this one can't expect great integrity."
Armed with this sketchy report, the New Mahabaleshwar project is now on a roll and the execution has been handed over to MTDC so that private bidders can get into the picture and push the rare flora and fauna of this region to the brink of extinction.
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