Every number on this site comes from a document I can point to:
Official papers first: Terms of Reference, clearance letters, Expert Appraisal and Forest Advisory Committee minutes, EIA reports, forest orders, gazettes and Central Electricity Authority records, mostly from the Parivesh portal.
News second: only from a fixed list of outlets (see About), summarised in my own words.
Every claim is labelled documented, reported, alleged (always with who alleges it) or official claim. The ⓘ beside a number shows the page and sentence it comes from.
Daily updates are added automatically and marked "not yet reviewed" until an editor checks them.
When sources disagree, I show both figures side by side.
Spotted a mistake, or have a document I should see? Write to daredavil239804@gmail.com with the page, the claim and, if you can, a source. I reply within 7 days and note every fix on the page.
Please check the linked source before you forward a figure.
Independent and unfunded. Every number links to its source: please check it before you share. Allegations are marked and attributed. Terms & disclaimer ·
Maharashtra is planning dozens of 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 the Western Ghats / SahyadriThe 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 →. This site tracks each one: the trees and forest it needs, the clearances it got, and what people living there say. Read the story, or explore the data pages.
Independent: no money from developers, governments or parties. Built from official documents and 75 vetted outlets. How this site works
39projects tracked
1,64,674trees to be felled, on recordCounts public for 5 of 39 projects
3,211ha of forest land, on recordKnown for 32 of 39 projects
60,615MW in the pipeline
How a hill becomes a battery
☀️ Daytime: power is cheap
When solar floods the grid at midday, pumps push water from the lower reservoir up a tunnel to the upper one. The hill becomes a battery.
🌙 Evening: power is dear
When demand peaks, the water falls back through turbines and makes electricity. About 22% of the energy is lost on the round trip.
🪓 The cost: the forest
Two reservoirs, a dam, tunnels, muck dumps, roads and power lines go onto forested hills. On record so far: 1,64,674 trees to be felled, from the 5 projects whose tree count is public, and 3,211 ha of forest land across 32 of the 39 projects.
🐸 The cost: life around it
Reservoirs and roads break up plateaus, streams and wildlife corridors that hold species found nowhere else, and take village land and grazing.
The whole story in short chapters: the trees, the species found nowhere else, the clearances, the villages and the case for the projects, each chapter with a shareable card.
Every pumped storage project planned in Maharashtra on a map and in one table, sorted by trees to be felled. 60,615 MW in all; a page per project with its documents.
MoUs, clearances, felling orders, hearings and protests, newest first, filterable by project. Latest: Scheduled: PM to lay foundation stone for Karjat PSP.
