Overview
- Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis publicly defended the Karjat pumped‑storage project on Tuesday and said it is necessary to balance solar and wind output and cut reliance on coal.
- The government announced mitigation measures that include planting 90,000 trees, planting an additional 60,000 trees on the site, and allocating twice the project area to the Forest Department.
- Opposition leaders and environmentalists have accused authorities of clearing roughly 32,000 trees in the Saidongar area near Bhimashankar and have demanded relocation or public debate over the site choice.
- Officials say pumped‑storage works by moving water between two reservoirs to store and release energy and can operate for about 80 years, making it a long‑duration, non‑polluting grid resource that the Centre classifies as green.
- The dispute remains politically charged and unresolved with the project reported to be developed by Torrent Power, continued protests and scrutiny expected, and no legal or regulatory settlement reported yet.