More than one lakh people pouring into Bikaner on February 2 was not just a protest against the cutting of a tree. The massive mobilisation to save the Khejri (Prosopis cineraria) marked a growing alarm across western Rajasthan over the rapid transformation of the Thar Desert’s fragile ecology and social fabric. Protesters demanded firm legal assurances from the state government to halt the felling of Khejri trees until a clear conservation framework is put in place, reflecting anxieties that go far beyond a single environmental dispute.
At the surface, the agitation is directed at the unchecked expansion of large solar energy projects in border districts of Rajasthan. But beneath this immediate trigger lies a complex web of structural, ecological and cultural concerns that are reshaping desert life.
Solar expansion and the clash over desert ecology
Over the past decade, Rajasthan has emerged as a key destination for India’s solar energy push. Large renewable energy companies have acquired vast tracts of land often on long-term leases in ecologically sensitive desert regions. Local communities allege that environmental safeguards are being sidelined, particularly the protection of native trees like the Khejri, which is vital to desert biodiversity and livelihoods.
Projects such as the massive Bhadla Solar Park near the Pakistan border in Bikaner district illustrate this tension. While hailed nationally as symbols of clean energy progress, on the ground they have triggered land dispossession, tree loss and growing resentment. Many economically vulnerable families, tempted by short-term compensation, have sold farmland and now face the risk of losing long-term ecological security, pushing them towards what scholars describe as “ecological refugee” status.
Power, land and the making of ecological refugees
Environmental thinkers have long argued that struggles over natural resources are also struggles between social classes. In the Thar, subsistence-dependent communities those whose survival is closely tied to local land, water and vegetation find themselves at odds with powerful corporate and political actors who control development decisions.
An intermediary local elite has also emerged, often organised along caste and community lines, acting as a bridge between corporations and administration. These groups facilitate land acquisition and quell dissent, sometimes through inducements or coercion. The cost of this development, however, is disproportionately borne by pastoralists, farmers and marginalised groups whose relationship with the desert ecosystem is being steadily eroded.
Cultural resistance rooted in history and faith
For communities such as the Bishnois, the Khejri tree is not merely a natural resource but a sacred symbol woven into spiritual life. The current protests draw strength from deep historical roots, including the 1730 Khejarli sacrifice, when 363 people laid down their lives to protect Khejri trees in Jodhpur.
Religious reform movements in the Thar between the 14th and 15th centuries shaped a worldview that linked ecological conservation with moral duty. Today’s protesters consciously invoke this legacy, framing the struggle as one to protect both nature and cultural identity from an external, extractive gaze.
A recurring theme in the debate is how policymakers perceive deserts as peripheral, barren spaces suitable for experimentation and exploitation. This mindset has historically justified activities ranging from nuclear testing to large-scale industrial projects. In Rajasthan, it now underpins the rapid conversion of desert land for solar infrastructure, often without adequate recognition of its ecological complexity.
The consequences extend beyond tree cutting. The spread of invasive species like Prosopis juliflora, introduced decades ago to “green” arid land, has overwhelmed native vegetation and encroached upon sacred community forests known as Orans. Water-intensive eucalyptus plantations along canal-irrigated zones have further disrupted the delicate balance, accelerating desertification rather than reversing it.
The Khejri Bachao movement, along with similar Oran Bachao campaigns, is increasingly being seen as a warning signal. These are not isolated protests against development but expressions of a deeper crisis one where ecological degradation, cultural erosion and social inequality intersect.
As Rajasthan races toward a renewable energy future, the voices rising from the Thar underline a critical question: can development be pursued without dismantling the very ecosystems and communities that sustain the desert? For many in western Rajasthan, the fight to save the Khejri is a fight to preserve the desert’s past, present and future.