Team Herald
PANJIM: NGO Goa Foundation has moved the High Court of Bombay at Goa seeking an order to stop all development and construction work through and within Mollem National Park.
In a Public Interest Litigation, which is likely to come up for consideration of an interim stay on August 25, it has stated that the protected area is witnessing movement of heavy machinery, bulldozers and trucks carrying rubble in the week from August 7 to 14, 2021.
Goa Foundation was informed by residents of nearby villages that some development and construction work was being carried out at the entrance of the Mollem National Park. At the very moment the petition was filed, a bulldozer was engaged in material damage to the bed of one of the rivers coursing through the park, outside Collem village, in order to raise a cofferdam and alter its course, states the petition submitted to the high court along with photographs of the work being carried out with heavy machinery and materials at the site.
“Upon enquiry, it appears the department behind the construction is the Forest Department, which has issued a contract to the PWD for the construction of an all-weather road with concrete pavers from the entrance of the Mollem National Park up to the Dudhsagar Waterfalls – a total length of approximately 26 km – to allow for easy access to the waterfalls which are a great tourist attraction in the State,” it said.
The segment from Collem to Dudhsagar is itself 10.1 km and the road passes entirely through the Mollem National Park and thus the area is protected under Section 35(6) of the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1975. The taxis to the Dudhsagar Falls, which run the present route from Collem require to maintain a speed of 10 km per hour in order to prevent any harm or danger to wildlife.
The petitioner claimed that to its best knowledge, no permissions have been granted by the Wildlife Authorities as required under the Wildlife Protection Act.
The NGO stated that urgent intervention of this Court is necessitated as no permissions whatsoever can be granted for work of this nature, evidently to further human purposes, within an area notified as a National Park under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1975.
“Permissions, if any, that have been granted would thus be liable to be quashed and set aside. Any sanctions approving work orders need to be stayed and quashed. Any development/destruction of the National Park for human benefit is strictly not permitted within National Parks as per the objects and provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and are also contrary to public policy and the recommendations of the NBWL itself,” it said.
