The post on social media by the Union Railway Ministry on September 1, ostensibly claiming the "commissioning" of the railway double tracking project between Hospet and Tinaighat and directly linking it to transportation of iron ore and coal, has stirred up the vestiges of the movement against the project along the Goa stretch — Vasco to Tinaighat. 'The Goan' revisits the issues involved, including the environmental concerns raised by the agitators, some of which were validated by judicial pronouncements and a ground study by the Supreme Court's Central Empowered Committee on Environment (CEC)
The Vasco-Hospet track doubling project, linked to coal transport from Mormugao Port, has reignited fears over pollution, ecological damage, and public well-being.
PANAJI
The Pramod Sawant-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government found itself pushed into a corner to justify its steadfast backing of the project of the Railways to double track its line from Hospet in Karnataka to Vasco.
The situation arose after a post on the micro-blogging site 'X' (formerly Twitter) from the Railway Minister purportedly announced the "commissioning" of the Hospet to Tinaighat section of this double-tracking project. The post complicated the issue for the Sawant government by suggesting that it would help in the transportation of iron ore and coal.
In exact words, the post said the double-tracking project, the Karnataka side of which has been commissioned, would speed up “coal, iron ore and steel transportation in the region” and “boost tourism to Goa and Hampi”.
In the backdrop of the movement against the project on the Goa section since 2020, largely on account of its potential to damage the environment since it cuts through the protected forest areas of Mollem and the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary, the Sawant government has consistently defended the project as an economic necessity.
On the other hand, activists, environmental scientists, professionals from different fields, and Opposition politicians argue that it is solely meant to benefit corporates — specifically Jindals and the Adanis — who import coal and transport it from the Mormugao Port to steel and power plants of North Karnataka. They alleged that it will give rise to a coal transportation corridor between Mormugao Port and the North Karnataka industrial belt, leading to damaging coal dust pollution and spelling a death knell for Goa's tourism industry.
The Sawant government counters this argument, claiming that the project will only make existing freight movement more efficient and increase tourist travel. Its predicament in the wake of the Railway Ministry's tweet got further compounded when, a day later, a public notice for acquisition of additional land for the project in Cansaulim and Issorcim, besides other areas, was published in local newspapers.
In lightning speed, Sawant's CMO issued a written clarification stating that the State government will not permit any increase in the quantum of coal handling at the Mormugao Port or transportation.
As for the additional land acquisition issue, the CMO claimed that only a limited amount of land is being acquired, that too only for banking and stabilisation, besides providing access to landowners and safeguarding nearby houses.
In exact words, this is what the CMO said: “The Government of Goa states that as clarified by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), the limited acquisition of 0.6 hectares initiated by the Ministry of Railways in Cansaulim, Sancoale and Issorcim villages is solely for banking/stabilisation support to safeguard nearby houses, provision of road access to landowners and correction of alignment mismatches identified in earlier surveys. The project will facilitate tourism development and faster movement of existing freight, including coal, in a manner that reduces incidental pollution by decreasing exposure time. It is further reiterated that no capacity expansion of coal transportation will be permitted in the State.”
Backlash from the Oppn
The Railway Ministry's tweet on Sunday expectedly sent Opposition parties into overdrive, attacking the Sawant government and accusing it of misleading Goans about the project all along.
The Congress State president said the BJP government has been exposed and that the project is actually to convert Goa into a coal hub. He added that the project is destructive and his party will firmly stand by the people of Goa in opposition to it.
Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) State president Amit Palekar also accused the BJP government of pushing the project only to benefit and profit the corporates and leaving the people to bear the cost, including on their health due to coal pollution, the damage to the environment, and also the tourism economy.
Fatorda MLA, Vijai Sardesai, too, said the truth — that the project is meant for coal transportation — has been admitted by the Union Ministry. "It has exposed the Goa government which always claimed it is not for coal. The truth is now out,” Sardesai said.
CM's riposte
On more than one occasion over the last few days, Sawant has refuted the claims of the Opposition. “I want to reiterate that coal handling at MPA's port in Vasco will not be enhanced,” he told journalists several times in the media.
Sawant has also maintained that line consistently on the floor of the Goa Legislative Assembly and outside, since 2020, when a massive gathering of protesters converged at Chandor, blocking the railway line in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Project stalled in Goa
The project to double the existing Hospet–Londa–Tinaighat–Vasco line was sanctioned in 2010. The approval to the project from the National Board for Wildlife, granted during a meeting in 2020 held via video-conferencing due to pandemic restrictions, was what triggered protests in Goa.
The opposition was particularly to the stretch in Goa from Castle Rock to Kulem (Collem), which environmentalists and locals said would cause irreparable damage to the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats as it cuts through the Mollem National Park and the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary.
The approval came to be challenged in the Supreme Court of India, which during the course of its proceedings deputed the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), which it had set up to assist in environmental matters, to conduct inspections on the ground and furnish a report.
The CEC, which happened to be headed by retired IAS officer P V Jayakrishnan, who had served a term as Chief Secretary here in the 1990s, arrived in Goa and visited the sites in Mollem and the Wildlife Sanctuary.
The panel submitted a report which said doubling the railway track from Castle Rock to Kulem had "no justification" and would cause destruction to the Western Ghats' ecology and ecosystem. The report also noted that the Ghats were recognised globally as a biodiversity hotspot and were an important wildlife corridor.
Based on this report, the Apex Court quashed the clearance granted by the National Board for Wildlife's standing committee to the project for doubling the railway line on the Goa stretch -- Castle Rock to Kulem.
The Supreme Court judgement therefore stalled the project, but not all was lost for the Railways and those backing it. The Apex Court also left a window open for the Railways to re-apply for the clearance, even as the CEC's report had also questioned the economic justification of the project.
Work in bits and pieces
The second track has so far been laid by the Railways on three partial sections of the line within Goa and also commissioned. The latest stretch is between Cansaulim and Majorda, a few months ago.
The statutory inspection of this stretch was conducted by a team of the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS), where senior railway officials were present. The South Western Railways (SWR) has also already commissioned the stretch of about 15 kilometres between Margao, Chandor and Sanvordem in 2021. Last year, in March, another stretch between Kalay and Curchorem had been commissioned.
Green block in protected areas
What has stalled the project between Castle Rock and Kulem is the need for the Railways or its special purpose vehicle for this specific project (RVNL) to re-apply for the nod from the National Board for Wildlife. For this purpose, it commissioned a fresh Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study by the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.
However, several procedures have to be followed in the State, including approvals and recommendations from the Mollem National Park Director, Chief Wildlife Warden in Goa, and the State Board for Wildlife.
Whether these approvals come or not is anyone's guess, but Goa, it seems, is heading for yet another round of agitations, with many who were part of the first round eager to mobilise the 'Save Mollem' movement again.
