PANJIM: The Supreme Court (SC), in its 219-page order has accepted the Central Empowered Committee’s (CEC) recommendation and stated that the Goa-Tamnar 440KV power line be set up along the alignment of the existing powerline so that fresh forest areas are not disturbed. The existing 110 KV and 220KV line corridor has no trees, and therefore this alignment will need no further trees to be felled.
The main protagonist on behalf of the people, whose concerted public interest litigations have won these people victories Claude Alvares, Director Goa Foundation explained, “The public agitation was that the alignment through a virgin part of the wildlife sanctuary was bad and should not be allowed. The Supreme Court has accepted the decision of the CEC that this view is correct.”
The Court agreed to keep for hearing on another date, the contempt petition against Tamnar for felling of some 3000 trees at Sangod, the site of the proposed sub-station.
“This is simply great news. The Mollem campaign was also heard by the CEC before it issued its final report. We expect that the other two recommendations of the CEC will also be accepted,” Alvares told Herald on Thursday evening.
A three-judge bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, B R Gavai and Aniruddha Bose was looking into the recommendations of the CEC, via its Report 6 of 2021 dated April 23, 2021.
It may be recalled that upon an application filed by Goa Foundation , the Supreme Court -appointed CEC examined the proposals cleared by the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (SC-NBWL) for 3 projects in Goa (see Box on why CEC was appointed and what did it do).
With regard to the Tamnar project, the committee further recommended that Goa-Tamnar 440KV powerline be set up along the alignment of the existing powerline so that fresh forest areas are not disturbed while allowing the four-laning of the highway with a further recommendation that animal corridors be expanded and that the highway is elevated in places where animal crossings are frequent.
Moreover, the CEC noted that into account the total available power supply lines and the peak power demand of Goa (presently 670 MW) in the foreseeable future there will be no justification to continue with the existing 110 KV and 220 KV lines between Karnataka and Goa.
The Court heard detailed submissions from Amicus and Senior Advocate A D N Rao, Senior Advocate Prashant Bhushan for Goa Foundation, Senior Advocate Chander Uday Singh among others. The Court had to adjourn the hearing on the other two issues due to paucity of time.
The SC also adjourned the application of the company for permitting it to obtain a conversion sanad. Earlier, the SC had decided that it would hear the contempt petition before it heard the Tamnar application for the sanad.
