PANJIM: The Union Power Ministry has given a March 2023 deadline for the Goa-Tamnar Transmission Project Ltd, to complete laying a 400 KV transmission line from Sangod in Goa to the Karnataka border.
In a fresh set of guidelines issued on Thursday, the Ministry said that a timeline of March 2023 has been given to Tamnar Transmission Project Ltd for an additional 400KV feed to Goa.
State Power Minister Ramakrishna Sudin Dhavalikar had last month said that work on the project will commence only after the monsoon. He had added that the project is very important as far as Goa’s electricity requirement is concerned as it will help in meeting the State’s additional 1200 MW power demand.
The infrastructure project, which passes through the protected wilds of Mollem, has been strongly opposed by the people. The Supreme Court, however, granted a green signal to the project while directing the State to utilize the existing 220 KV power line alignment in Goa, instead of cutting down fresh forest cover, to lay a new 400 KV line as part of the project.
Hearing a plea by NGO Goa Foundation, a three-judge Bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, B R Gavai and Aniruddha Bose had on April 8, accepted the proposal made by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) in its April 23, 2021 report.
The Committee had said that the move, to utilize the existing 220 KV power line alignment in Goa, instead of cutting down fresh forest cover will “help in saving the previous forest cover and wildlife in the ecologically fragile and biodiversity-rich Western Ghats”.
The Minister had said that the government will ensure that the project proponent abides by the Apex Court’s directions.
