SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2024
Team Herald
MARGAO: South Western Railway's double-tracking project continued to face protests across Goa in 2023. Environmentalists expressed serious concerns about the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) to be conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
Earlier, the Supreme Court had invalidated the wildlife clearance for the double-tracking project, but later it allowed the Railway authorities to submit another environmental impact assessment to be conducted by WII.
O Heraldo reported on the unified opposition of civil society and experts against the South Western Railway's (SWR) project to double the railway track from Kulem in Goa to Castle Rock in Karnataka, cutting through Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary (BMWLS) and Mollem National Park (MLP) in the Western Ghats.
The project also affects connectivity with the Kali Tiger Reserve in
Karnataka.
Protests across Goa materialised when the Supreme Court issued an order against the project executed by Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL). However, despite the order, RVNL continued work in most parts of Goa, only halting activities in ecologically sensitive areas.
