MARGAO
Condemning as “baseless” and “misleading” the statement made by Environment Minister Nilesh Cabral on coal hub, Goyant Kollso Naka on Wednesday said the Sagarmala documents not only show the plan to transport 137 million tonnes of coal per annum through MPT, but the documents reveal that the double tracking of the South Western Railway is for increase in coal transportation.
While demanding that the Government immediately stop all double tracking works, Goyant Kollso Naka said thousands of Goans will be forced to exercise their constitutional duty again to protect the future generations from the blind greed of a few if the government fails to revoke the orders of the South Goa Collector permitting road closure at Davorlim railway crossing on the night of 8 November.
The NGO has further warned that consequences of the failure of the Government to pay heed to logic, people’s wishes and public interest will be solely the responsibility of the Government.
GKN convenor Antonio D’Silva said the government is contradicting itself by saying on the one hand that they will not allow increase in coal transportation through Goa, while also insisting on continuing with the illegal construction of the second track, which is purely for coal transportation.
“The Government is not just making baseless and false statements to mislead the people, but also contradicts itself, while revealing its servitude to the coal lobby. The Environment Minister has not contested any of the documents produced by GKN in evidence of the plans to make Goa a coal hub. In fact, he admits the authenticity of the Sagarmala documents that show that 137 MTPA of coal is planned to be transported through MPT, our rivers, our villages and our forests”, Antonio said.
Co-convenor Abhijit Prabhudesai said the construction of the second track is illegal not just because the Railways Ministry has ordered all such works to be stopped, or that the Panchayat permissions are not obtained, but also because no permissions are obtained for the works in Mollem National Park, and the fact that Karnataka Forest Department has declared that the land required for double tracking in the Kali Tiger Reserve is ‘inviolable’.
Referring to the Environment Minister statement that the double tracking through Mollem National Park will take about 4-5 years due to the difficult terrain, Abhijit said “If so, there is no logic in rushing with the double tracking works at Davorlim and bringing thousands of people on the tracks and jeopardizing Public Health and Safety, for which only the Government is responsible”.
The Environment Minister tries to appease the people by saying that the present coal handling “might continue for some time”, yet he make an outlandish proposal that the entire railway line will be covered with a dome to prevent pollution due to coal dust!
Saying the Environment Minister has further exposed his real intentions when he states that no one can stop the infrastructure works, Abhijit said “this means that the Government wants to continue to work for the coal lobby, for whom tens of thousands of crores of our money is being spent for the double tracking, national highways and other coal infrastructure works. Obviously, once the infrastructure is in place, no one can stop the coal plans of Adani, Vedanta and Jindal."
GKN decries the statements being made by the Environment Minister without a single supporting document being placed before the Public till date. In contrast, GKN has been submitting all the Government documents to the Government since over 5 months, none of which are contested by the Government.
