Team Herald
PANJIM: The legal fraternity in Goa has written to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and the Principle Secretary of Government of Goa on the further legal concerns about Goa Tamnar Project.
The letter comes a fortnight after 39 scientists from Karnataka and Goa called for the cumulative impact assessment between Goa and Karnataka before granting any clearances. A group of hundred scientists and allied professional had written to the Regional Empowered Committee of the MoEF&CC before them expressing similar concerns.
“Clearances for the railway expansion and the transmission line projects are being sought in a piecemeal manner which is a typical strategy used to create fait accompli situations by project proponents. All three projects are inter-State and require clearances from Goa as well as Karnataka. There is a need for cumulative impact assessments for such projects where more than one lakh trees will be cut in the two States. The scale of fragmentation will severely affect habitat connectivity for tigers, elephants and biodiversity if all projects are given the go-ahead without understanding the real impact on the eco-sensitive central Western Ghats,” research scientist Girish Punjabi who has extensively studied the environment impact assessments of this project, said.
The Amche Mollem Citizens Group stated that Electricity Authority minutes show the alignment through Kolhapur was first, then Kaiga. The Mollem line came in suddenly as another option, but despite warning of damage to forests and wildlife sanctuary, the original land was to be made available at Xeldem and suddenly shifted to Sangod, where Tamnar spent eight crores, buying 10 hectares of thickly forested land.
“There is a ban order by the Supreme Court dated February 4, 2015 prohibiting any conversion of land in excess of one hectare and with canopy density of 10 per cent or above. This plot now termed as Goa’s Green Heart from a movie that went viral, was 10 hectares and had canopy density of 80 per cent. They sent a proposal to the Goa government asking for exemption from Preservation of Trees Act, so they could clear felled 2,670 tress, 90 per cent forestry species as per the list issued by the Forest Department,” a press release issued by Team Project Save Mollem reads as.
Advocate Karleen De Mello, amongst those expressing concern over the project questioned as to why a company like Goa Tamnar (an SPV of Sterlite power) is getting a free-pass to Goa’s natural heritage along with police protection.
These unaddressed concerns come just as citizens have been protesting on railway double tracking, where the MoEF&CC in parallel granted stage two forest clearances to Xeldem-Mapusa line. This is despite the fact that the compliance report and miscellaneous documents, relevant to post stage one clearance has not yet been responded to on the grounds that the file is at Secretariat.
“The clearance is granted in the name of Goa Tamnar but the contractor implementing the project on ground is a different company, one has to wonder whether PFC Consulting Company (the contractor) can be held accountable in case of non compliance,” asked Adv Prerna Venkatesh, another lawyer.
“The only mitigation measure suggested by the Goa Forest Department for a 15-km long and 46-metre 400K/V transmission line through forests is to create adequate number of water retaining structures for wild animals,” Adv Sreeja Chakraborty, one of the lawyers that had written to the Central Empowered Committee earlier this year.
She added that she was baffled given the citizen efforts to protect the forests, now it’s not only about Mollem, but the Deputy Conservator of Forests, North Goa Division, the Conservator, the PCCF, Principle Secretary (Forest), Government of Goa and even the MoEF&CC could not show any sympathy for the wildlife and flora for Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary even on paper.
