The National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) has granted conditional approval to the South Western Railway (SWR) to carry out iron ore handling operations at the Kalem railway yard located within the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and Mollem National Park.
The clearance, granted at a recent meeting of the NBWL, permits the use of around 0.76 hectares of forest land at Kalem for the loading, unloading and transportation of iron ore.
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As part of the approval, SWR has been directed to submit annual compliance reports to the State Chief Wildlife Warden, who will forward them to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
The conditions attached to the clearance require that the activity be carried out strictly in accordance with wildlife protection norms, with compliance monitored by the forest and wildlife authorities. Any deviation from the stipulated conditions would be subject to scrutiny by the Chief Wildlife Warden and the MoEFCC.
Project details placed before the NBWL indicate that the railways had examined the option of shifting ore handling operations to an alternative location outside the sanctuary limits but rejected the proposal on grounds of feasibility.
The approval has drawn attention to long-standing opposition from environmental groups and civil society organisations to mining-linked activity inside Mollem, which has remained a sensitive issue in Goa for over a decade.
Environmental organisations, including the Save Mollem movement group and the Goa Foundation, have consistently opposed commercial activity within the protected area, citing concerns over ecological impact.
Local village bodies, including the Kalem village panchayat, have also, in the recent past, conveyed their opposition to ore handling within the village limits and urged that mining-related activity be kept out of the sanctuary.
Issues relating to ore handling and allied activities in and around Mollem have previously been the subject of court scrutiny, with petitions challenging environmental and wildlife clearances granted for activities within the protected area.
While the authorities have maintained that the NBWL approval is subject to conditions and regulatory oversight, environmental groups have reiterated concerns over the impact of such activities within a notified wildlife sanctuary and national park.
