Last Updated: 12.06.24

In February 2016, a Mumbai newspaper revealed that the state Forest Department was trying to reinstate the sport of polo in Mahabaleshwar, apparently to satisfy the Governor’s wish to bring back the glory days of polo during the British Raj. To this end, the Forest Department had requested the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) to grant 3.67 hectares of protected forest land in the village of Malcolm Peth in Mahabaleshwar to the Satara Sport Authority for a polo ground.

BEAG was alarmed at the news. Not only was the whole of Mahabaleshwar an eco-sensitive zone, but the particular site in Malcolm Peth that had been declared a Grade 1 natural heritage site in the Final Heritage List of the Mahabaleshwar Municipal Council by the Govt. of Maharashtra. The polo project was violative of the ESZ notification and heritage conservation laws.

On close scrutiny of the polo project, BEAG concluded that the polo project was indeed environmentally unsound and ecologically destructive. As the British had themselves stopped all equestrian activity in the area during World War II, the soil of the British polo ground had settled over time and was now covered by an established eco-system of native herbs and grasses. The former British polo ground was a verdant grassland surrounded by jungles rich in bird life, visited by wild animals, and a nesting habitat for the giant squirrel, Maharashtra’s state animal.

BEAG anticipated that for this development, even more forests would be destroyed in order to provide infrastructure such as stables and roads for polo. And, what of the Draft Tourism Master Plan that had clearly stated that the carrying capacity of Mahabaleshwar town had already been well exceeded? Why had no environmental impact analysis study been conducted?

BEAG immediately started a correspondence with state government officials. It soon became clear that the government was in fact planning to expand the ground to two more hectares of forests for various ancillary facilities. The plan was to severely disturb the soil on the two additional hectares and lay an artificial layer, 6 inches deep, of “red clay over it and to develop green grass”, for which an estimated 350 truckloads of external soil would need to be trucked in. State government officials revealed that the polo project was to be executed on a war footing.

BEAG was even more concerned now. Apart from the actual serious destructive impact on the existing compacted ground, there would be tremendous disturbance and dust and diesel pollution due to the movement of trucks and heavy equipment. In addition, as the polo ground is slightly raised on some sides from the surrounding ground, the loose new soil will encourage erosion and run-off.

BEAG made a detailed representation to the High-Level Monitoring Committee  (HLMC) against the environmentally destructive proposal. The HLMC, then chaired by Shri. Karandikar, noted that it had not received the proposal for approval and “the question of granting provisional approval by the present HLMC on ‘ad hoc’ basis does not arise because no definite and formal proposal has been placed before HLMC’.

BEAG next filed various Right to Information (RTI) requests with several authorities for further information, and after collating the information received under RTI, took the matter to the Heritage Conservation Committee (HCC). Based on BEAG’s representation, the HCC decided to have its chairman send a written request to the Director of Town Planning in Pune asking him to reconsider the permission given by that department during the HCC’s absence.  

After persistent follow-ups with the state Forest Department and the central government against the handing over of the polo ground to the Satara Sports Authority, BEAG was relieved when the Ministry of Environment and Forests finally rejected the polo ground project on September 19, 2017.

BEAG continues imploring concerned authorities to initiate action against all unauthorized structures, commercial activities and parking within heritage sites that do not have the requisite permissions.