The Supreme Court’s decision to accept the recommendations of the Central Empowered Committee that the new Tamnar-Goa 440 KV line should be brought along the alignment of the existing 110 KV line is a welcome move. While the decision isn’t a clear win from an environmental point of view given that it will still involve significant chopping of trees and re-intrusion into the protected forest to install a fresh line while keeping the existing line operational. However, it is believed to be the lesser of the two evils especially since the CEC has noted the “modification in the proposal will help in saving the precious forest cover and wildlife in the ecologically fragile and biodiversity-rich Western Ghats” as it will not involve intruding into hitherto untouched areas.
Crucially, one needs to remember that when the matter came up for hearing before the Supreme Court the advocate for Tamnar didn’t oppose the CEC’s recommendations making it a fairly simple decision for the court and a rather straightforward one. The real fight however lies ahead, and it is when the other two projects, the railway and highway expansion are taken up that Goa will have to make a strong pitch to defend its case.
The state government and central agencies are unlikely to easily concede to the CEC’s recommendations when it comes to the railway expansion. In a strongly-worded report, the CEC has in no uncertain terms recommended that the railway project should be scrapped. It also stated the expansion for the stretch through the Western Ghats will not serve any purpose vis-a-vis the cost to the environment involved as well as the purely economic cost-benefit analysis is taken into consideration.
The government, however, appears hell-bent on pushing the project through arguing that the railway line is a crucial link between the port and the hinterland and is needed for the economic development of the nation despite stiff opposition from the people of Goa. If the SC is inclined to go by the recommendations of the CEC in the case of the railway project as well, that will certainly be a big win for the people of Goa, the railway project being the largest of the three projects.
On the other hand, when it comes to the CEC recommendations for the highway projects, where the CEC has recommended that it should be allowed to go ahead but at a narrower width, it is here that the argument should be that the project will remain destructive while bargaining for greater concessions before the Supreme Court. It must be remembered that the scaled-down version of the projects is still better than the full-blown versions, but nonetheless remain destructive by their very nature.
The opposition to these projects by a section of environmentalists especially the Federation of Rainbow Warriors and the Goyant Kollso Naka groups and an unwillingness to accept a scaled-down version is completely justified. Unfortunately, their voices have been drowned out in an increasing willingness to accept a ‘lesser evil.’
The Tamnar decision is an important win, but the real battles lie ahead.
