Supreme Court affirms CEC’s recommendations on Railway Double Tracking; Cancels NBWL clearance granted for the project

Digital Goa, May 9 – In a setback to the controversial double tracking project of Indian Railways, the Supreme Court today affirmed Central Empowered Committees(CEC) recommendation on railway double tracking through Western Ghats and cancelled National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) clearance granted for the project. The apex court has however allowed the railways to reapply. The SC in its order said that this will not however preclude Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd to carry out a detailed analysis on the impact of the proposed project on the bio-diversity and ecology of the protected areas under the wildlife sanctuary and then submit a fresh proposal to the standing committee of NBWL which it said shall be considered in accordance with law.
“This is a major victory for Goans who have been opposing the project,” said petitioner and Goa Foundation director Claude Alvares. In its 110-page report, the CEC had asked the Supreme Court to consider revoking the permission granted by the standing committee(SC) -NBWL for the railway double-tracking project. It said the “project will only be marginally enhancing the capacity of the most inefficient section of the Railway Network passing through ecologically sensitive and bio-diversity rich Tiger Reserve, Two Wildlife Sanctuaries and a National Park”. The CEC had observed that “the estimate of projected increase in traffic from Karnataka to Goa furnished by the railways is not based on facts and is without any sound reasoning and as statistics show mostly includes empty rakes returning to Goa and that despite the change in policy on import of coal the same has not been reflected in the projected traffic from Goa to Karnataka”. “The increased number of trains and wider openings through the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats for laying the track will further fragment the habitat and will make the movement of wildlife across the railway line difficult and dangerous and is bound to result in high casualties among the wildlife,” the CEC had said.
On April 7,2022 the SC accepted the CEC recommendation to utilise the existing 220 KV powerline alignment, instead of cutting down fresh forest cover, to lay a new 400 KV line as part of the ambitious Goa-Tamnar Transmission project.

The post Supreme Court affirms CEC’s recommendations on Railway Double Tracking; Cancels NBWL clearance granted for the project appeared first on Digital Goa.

from Digital Goa