After years of delays and local resistance in South Goa, the State government has moved forward with plans to ex pand the Mollem highway stretch. The Public Works Department (PWD) is cur rently preparing a detailed project report for the pro posed four-laning. The proposal covers two segments—Khandepar to Mollem (20 km) and Mol lem to the Goa-Karnataka border (12.8 km)—which form part of a broader plan to upgrade inter-state road connectivity. The proposed expan sion is expected to require large-scale tree felling— estimated at around 7,000 trees—along with compen satory afforestation and soil and moisture conserva tion measures as part of the clearance process. While highway expansion has progressed in several parts of the State, stretches in South Goa have seen de lays due to objections from local residents, reflecting continuing concerns over the impact of such projects. The project, funded by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, involves a 33-km corridor passing through the Bhag wan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary, placing it within one of Goa’s most ecologi cally sensitive zones. Any expansion in this region has historically at tracted scrutiny. In 2021, the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), in its re port to the Supreme Court, stated that environmental clearances were essen tial for widening National Highway 748 through Mol lem’s forest areas and rec ommended modifications to the project. Following this, the State government submitted its proposal to the Union envi ronment ministry’s Region al Empowered Committee (REC) in Bengaluru for con sideration. The current exercise is expected to finalise techni cal details of the expansion, including alignment and design, before the project proceeds to the next stage of approvals.
Rail double-tracking: Goa makes fresh bid to divert forest land
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Goa has returned to the Centre’s regional panel with a fresh bid to secure forest diversion clear ance for the Kulem–Margao rail dou ble-tracking project, a year after its earlier proposal was rejected, reviv ing concerns over its impact on eco logically sensitive areas. The State government has moved a second request before the Union environment ministry’s Regional Em powered Committee (REC), Bengalu ru, seeking revocation of an abeyance order that had stalled diversion of 15.6 hectares of forest land required for the project. The proposal, sub mitted along with the State forest department and Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL), is expected to come up before the REC shortly. The project has drawn sustained opposition from environmental groups and sections of civil society over its impact on forest land, wildlife habitats and the larger Western Ghats landscape. In March last year, the REC had re jected Goa’s request to revoke the abeyance order disallowing forest diversion for the project. The com mittee had also directed the State government and RVNL to expand the scope of their study to include the Kulem–Kalem section, noting that it forms part of the Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary. During the earlier proceedings, RVNL had argued that Supreme Court orders staying approvals for railway double-tracking were applicable only to the Castlerock–Kulem stretch and not to the Kulem–Margao section. The REC, however, did not accept this con tention. The project forms part of a larger railway expansion plan through eco logically sensitive areas of the West ern Ghats and involves diversion of forest land across multiple categories in Goa. Of the 138.3 hectares proposed for diversion in Goa, 1.9 hectares fall un der private forest land, 14.4 hectares lie within the Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary, 113.8 hectares fall within Bhagwan Mahaveer National Park, and the remaining 8.2 hectares are in the North Goa forest division. The proposal had earlier received clearance from the standing commit tee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), which recommended the Goa and Karnataka portions of the project in meetings held on December 17, 2019, and January 5, 2021, respec tively. Following a petition by the Goa Foundation before the Supreme Court, the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of the court examined the mat ter and recommended revocation of the permission granted for doubling of the railway track through the eco logically sensitive Western Ghats stretch from Tinaighat–Castlerock in Karnataka to Kulem in Goa. The pro ject involves diversion of 120.8 hec tares of forest land in Goa and 10.5 hectares in Karnataka.
