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Kaas plateau carpeted with monsoon wildflowers
Kaas plateau, Satara: a World Heritage site in the Western Ghats · Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Shortcuts

Each card names a safeguard in environmental or forest law, what happened instead, and the documents that show it.

13 shortcuts

7 shown in official documents

6 projects involved

Project

Threshold loophole Documented

Resettlement declared 'not applicable'

✅ The safeguard

The 2013 land acquisition law (RFCTLARR) requires a Rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) What a project must provide to people who lose homes, land or livelihoods. More in glossary → plan for affected families.

⚠️ What happened

Karjat's Environmental impact assessment (EIA) The study a developer must commission on a project's effects on land, water, wildlife and people before it can get an EC. More in glossary → says no R&R plan is needed, citing a 2014 Maharashtra notification that applies R&R only to private purchases of 1,000 haDocumented“…pact Assessment (EIA) report , no Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) Plan is required as the proposed PSP project is less than 1000 ha. As per the Government of Maharashtra s Gazette notification (Maharashtra Gazette notification No. LQN. 12/2013/C.R. 190/A-2 d…”Land Conflict Watch (cites draft EIA and 27 Aug 2014 notification) or more. The project needs 377 haDocumented“377 Ha at Village Potal, Saidongar, Ambot, etc, Sub District Karjat, District Raigarh,”Karjat EC, page1.

📍 Saidongar-1 PSP, Karjat

Documents (2)

Boundary drawn to fit Documented

Outside the sanctuary line, inside the habitat

✅ The safeguard

Wildlife clearance and stricter scrutiny apply to projects near protected areas.

⚠️ What happened

Karjat is framed as 16 kmDocumented“…3,000-megawatt pumped storage project in Karjat, Maharashtra, against environmental concerns, saying the project is located about 16 km from the Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary and that all its components fall outside the sanctuary and its eco-sensitive zone. T…”ThePrint: Torrent says project outside sanctuary from Bhimashankar and outside its Eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) A notified buffer around a sanctuary or national park where some activities are banned or regulated. More in glossary → , so no wildlife clearance. Yet its own Environmental clearance (EC) The environment ministry's permission for a project, given after the EIA and public hearing, with conditions attached. More in glossary → lists 14Documented“Mammals (14): Indian Jackal, Indian Fox, Indian Wolf, Jungle Cat, Leopard, Indian Porcupine,”Karjat EC, page25 Schedule-I species Animals given the highest legal protection under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, such as leopard, sloth bear and pangolin. More in glossary → mammals in the study area and orders a human–animal conflict plan, and the site lies on the Bhimashankar–Malshej Wildlife corridor A strip of habitat that lets animals move between protected areas; usually has no legal protection of its own. More in glossary → .

📍 Saidongar-1 PSP, Karjat

Documents (2)

Resubmitted after rejection Documented

Rejected in September, back in December

✅ The safeguard

Rejection by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) The central committee of experts that recommends ToR and EC for river valley and hydro projects, including PSPs. More in glossary → should force a lower-impact redesign.

⚠️ What happened

Warasgaon–Warangi was rejected on 27 Sep 2024 after its forest need tripled. A fresh Terms of Reference (ToR) The list of studies an EIA must cover, set by the expert committee. Getting a ToR is the first clearance step, not a permission to build. More in glossary → was granted on 31 Dec 2024.

📍 Warasgaon–Warangi PSP

Documents (2)

No cumulative assessment Documented

Project by project, never the valley

✅ The safeguard

Cumulative impact assessment A study of the combined effect of all projects in one river basin or landscape, rather than one project at a time. More in glossary → and carrying-capacity studies show what many projects do to one basin together.

⚠️ What happened

None exists for the Kal, Savitri, Pej, Kalu or Koyna basins. Pane's upper dam is ~3 kmDocumented“· Upper Adani Dam is barely 3 kms from the proposed Upper Dam of 1500 MW Pane Pumped Storage by JSW.”SANDRP: letter to the EAC on the Adani dams · 29 November 2024 from Warasgaon's; residents say more projects are planned within 15–20 km of Karjat.

📍 Pane PSP📍 Warasgaon–Warangi PSP📍 Saidongar-1 PSP, Karjat

Documents (2)

Rule relaxation proposed Documented

Proposal to loosen the rules themselves

✅ The safeguard

Eco-sensitive zones, the 10 km buffer around protected areas, and Western Ghats / Sahyadri The 1,600 km mountain chain along India's west coast: older than the Himalaya, a UNESCO World Heritage site and a global biodiversity hotspot. More in glossary → conditions limit where projects can go.

⚠️ What happened

CEA concurrence Technical-economic approval of a hydro DPR by the Central Electricity Authority, needed above a cost threshold. More in glossary → 's Jan 2026 roadmap proposes allowing Pumped storage project (PSP) Two reservoirs at different heights: water is pumped up when power is cheap and released through turbines when power is needed. More in glossary → in un-notified ESZs and within 10 kmDocumented“In a policy roadmap released on Tuesday, the authority recommended permitting pumped-storage projects inside eco-sensitive zones and within a 10-Km aerial distance of protected areas where such zones have not yet been formally notified.”Swarajya of protected areas, a lighter ' Red category Pollution boards' highest-pollution class of industries; hydel projects over 50 MW are red, which restricts them in some ESZs. More in glossary → ' for off-stream PSPs, afforestation on degraded forest land, excluding land above tunnels from diversion, and relaxing Western Ghats conditions.

Documents (2)

Exemption Documented

Drilling redefined as 'forest activity'

✅ The safeguard

Any non-forest use of forest land needs prior clearance under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 The 1980 forest law (renamed in 2023) that requires central approval before forest land is diverted. More in glossary → .

⚠️ What happened

The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) The central committee that recommends whether forest land may be diverted for a project. More in glossary → (Jul 2024) recommended exempting exploratory drilling for hydro and PSPs, with felling of up to 100 treesDocumented“…vironmental compliance burden for pumped hydro and other development projects. The exemption will allow for the felling of up to 100 trees for exploratory drilling in forest areas and consider it “forest activity,” so as to keep it outside the purview of the For…”Mongabay India. Notification status unconfirmed.

Documents (1)

Fast track Official claim

Fast-track promised before the projects are assessed

✅ The safeguard

Environmental and water approvals are meant to be independent assessments.

⚠️ What happened

The CM announced a 'fast-track mechanism' for time-bound clearances, including environmental approvals (Nov 2025), and ordered time-bound rollout of all 55Official claim“Maharashtra Pumped Storage Power Projects: 55 MoUs Fast-Tracked”Electrical Mirror Memorandum of understanding (MoU) A non-binding agreement between the state and a developer to study and build a project at a site, with a water allocation. More in glossary → (Mar 2026).

Documents (2)

Green label Documented

A 'green' label that ignores the forest

✅ The safeguard

Green incentives should reward net environmental benefit.

⚠️ What happened

PSPs are classified as renewable, earning green certificates, priority lending, transmission waivers and proposed REC multipliers, without netting out forest carbon or checking what power charges them.

Documents (2)

Work before clearance AllegedNot yet reviewed

Works on the ground before clearance (alleged)

✅ The safeguard

No construction before environmental and Forest clearance (Stage-I / Stage-II) Central permission to use forest land for a project. Stage-I is in-principle approval with conditions; Stage-II is final approval. More in glossary → and a Public hearing A meeting near the project site, run by the state pollution control board, where affected people can object on record. More in glossary → .

⚠️ What happened

Activists say a Dec 2023 EAC site visit An inspection by EAC members. Since Sep 2024 the EAC wants one for every Western Ghats PSP before EC. More in glossary → found surveys and civil works at Patgaon, and that no public hearing preceded permission.

📍 Patgaon PSP

Documents (1)

Weak baseline study ReportedNot yet reviewed

Baseline data from the wrong river

✅ The safeguard

An EIA must survey the actual site's species and river.

⚠️ What happened

The Bhorande EIA used fish data from a dammed river of the same name in Ahmednagar, not the free-flowing Kalu, and is called 'vague' on endemic plants.

📍 Malshej Ghat Bhorande PSP

Documents (1)

Undercount Reported

Three different tree counts

✅ The safeguard

Tree enumeration fixes the compensation and the scale of felling.

⚠️ What happened

For Karjat: Torrent's own draft EIA estimates about 48,000 treesReported“…down. Using modern machinery, trees are being cut in two to five minutes," More alleged, adding that on paper it is claimed that 48,000 trees will be cut for the project, but the company is actually chopping around 2.5 lakh trees. More claimed that the villages ar…”ThePrint on 233 haReported“…te Change to review the project’s environmental implications. The organisation has raised concerns over the proposed diversion of 233 hectares of forest land, warning of potential impacts on the Saidongar area’s natural resources, wildlife and local communities.…”FPJ, the Oct 2026 felling permission is reported at 32,490Reported“…Pawar Oppose Cutting Of 32,490 Trees For Karjat Power Project A forest order dated October 14, 2026, reportedly permits felling 32,490 trees in Karjat forests for Torrent Power’s proposed 3,000 MW Saidongar-I project. Commenting on the opposition criticism, state…”FPJ, and activists allege far more are being cut. The same EIA describes the forest as shrub and grass dominated with very sparse small trees.

📍 Saidongar-1 PSP, Karjat

Documents (4)

Land repurposed AllegedNot yet reviewed

Land taken for one dam, reused for another (alleged)

✅ The safeguard

Unused acquired land should revert to owners under the 2013 Act.

⚠️ What happened

Khubi land acquired in the 1990s for the Pimpalgaon dam was left unused; residents say it should have reverted and is now eyed for a PSP.

📍 THDC Malshej Ghat PSP

Documents (1)

Regulator too close Reported

A regulator that 'practically' never says no

✅ The safeguard

The EAC should independently test projects, including whether they are needed.

⚠️ What happened

Experts say the EAC's rejection rate is practically zero, that it does no options assessment, and ignores CEA's own estimate of needed PSP capacity (~5× more in clearance than needed).

Documents (2)