PANAJI
The Supreme Court on Thursday concluded its hearings in the petition concerning the Central Empowered Committee’s recommendations concerning the railway double tracking through the Western Ghats and the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary in Mollem and has reserved the matter for orders.
South Western Railways and the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited had challenged the recommendations of the CEC which had recommended that the double tracking proposal be scrapped.
“The matter had been almost fully heard on 7.4.2022, after the Tamnar order had been passed. However, counsel for railways on 7.4.2022 pleaded for permission to file additional documents and for further arguments. Today, though the documents were filed, counsel for the railways was absent, and another counsel asked for the matter to be adjourned. The Bench was clearly unhappy since the Bench had been specially called for this. On hearing the request, the Bench refused it. The judge then announced the hearings were going to be treated as completed, and declared that the matter was reserved for judgement by the court,” Claude Alvares for the Goa Foundation, who was present in court, said.
The CEC constituted by SC has in its report said that there was “no justification” for undertaking the doubling of the existing single line railway track between Tinaighat in North Karnataka and Vasco da Gama in Goa and recommended that the permissions granted to the project be revoked.
“CEC does not find any justification for undertaking a project of this nature which will destroy the fragile ecosystem of the Western Ghats which is an internationally recognised Biodiversity hotspot and also one of the most important wildlife corridors of the Country. Moreover this doubling project will only marginally enhance the capacity of the most inefficient section of the Railway Network passing through ecologically sensitive and biodiversity rich tiger Reserve, two Wildlife Sanctuaries and a National Park,” the CEC headed by P V Jayakrishnan, had said.
“In these circumstances it is recommended… to revoke the permission granted by the Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife (SC NBWL) for doubling of the railway track,” the CEC said.
After a two-day visit, the CEC recorded that the “doubling of the existing rail line will not have any positive impact on the gradient and curvature of the new line and it will operate at the same inefficient level as the existing line and will be operating with all the existing severe limitations on running of trains as that of the existing line that was laid in 1890s when there was no other rail connectivity available to Goa.
“The estimate of projected increase in traffic from Karnataka to Goa furnished by the railways is not based on facts and is without any sound reasoning and as statistics shows mostly includes empty rakes returning to Goa and that despite the change in policy on import of coal, the same has not been reflected in the projected traffic from Goa to Karnataka; the current movement of goods to Mormugao Port constitutes only about 20% of the rakes going out from Goa and which leaves a huge unutilised capacity in the existing single line itself,” the CEC noted.
“There are alternative ports like Krishnapatnam in east coast available with better rail connectivity for transport of goods to and from industrial belt of northern Karnataka and the capacity of the same is yet to be fully utilised; the increased number of trains and wider openings through the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats for laying the track will further fragment the habitat and will make the movement of wildlife including arboreal animals across the railway line much more difficult and dangerous and is bound to result in high casualties amongst the wildlife,” the CEC had also said.
“At present the Konkan railway line gives excellent connectivity to Northern and Southern parts of India the connectivity between Goa and Karnataka is being strengthened/improved by way of 4 laning of NH-4A along the same route and by development of a new airport,” the CEC said.
