212 HA MAY BE DIVERTED FOR HYDEL PROJECT

MUMBAI: Just over 212 hectares of forest land, about the size of 21 Azad Maidans, are proposed to be diverted in Nashik and Thane districts for a 1500MW hydel energy development known as the Bhavali Pumped Storage Project.

The project will consist of two water reservoirs created at different elevations, with a turbine between the two to generate power as water is discharged over it. The water will then be pumped back to the upper reservoir.

The water for the project is proposed to be drawn on a onetime basis from the nearby Bhavali dam in Igatpuri, and to make up for evaporation losses as and when required either on a quarterly, semi-annually or annual basis.

The site of the project is located at Jamunde village, about 50kms away from Nashik, and is approachable from Mumbai using National Highway-160.. The project is expected to net the Maharashtra government ₹1,325 crore per year in revenue from the sale of electricity, as per publicly available documents.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the project was signed between the industries department of Maharashtra and JSW Neo Energy on September 14, 2021, after the initial site was proposed by the state government. The proposal was considered by the union environment ministry’s expert appraisal committee for terms of reference (TOR) in December last year, and was subsequently delisted in April. TOR refers to a preliminary clearance which outlines the specifics of the project, and allows the executing party to conduct an environment impact assessment (EIA).