PANAJI
The Central Empowered Committee has countered the Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RNVL) justification for the double tracking of the project pointing out that the existing line is nowhere near saturated and future projections offered by the authorities to justify the project were hollow and not based on any real data.
RAIL TRAFFIC
In its report submitted before the Supreme Court recommending that the project be scrapped because it was not justified, the Supreme Court’s Central Empowered Committee also pointed out that traffic along the route was essentially one way.
“From the current level of goods traffic movement it can be inferred that on an average not even 20% of the existing capacity of the single Railway line is being used by the hinterland in Karnataka for transport /export of goods to Mormugao Port in Goa. Further, on an average about 92% of goods being transported from Goa to Karnataka through this line is coal,” the CEC said in its report.
The CEC in its report took the Railway’s and Port’s claims that coal dependence will be reduced over the coming years at face value as the revised policy of the Government of India does not support import of coal and the new policy encourages use of indigenously mined coal and that the export of iron ore from Karnataka as a policy is discouraged.
CAPACITY UNDERUTILISED
“As the data suggest, assuming 3267 number of rakes transported during 2016-17 is the maximum capacity of the single line, currently only 81.63% of the capacity is being utilised for movement of goods from Goa to Karnataka and 14.68% capacity is being utilised for movement of goods from Karnataka to Goa. The change in policy combined with empty rakes reaching Goa from Karnataka only goes to confirm the huge existing capacity available in the present single track itself for transport of goods from Karnataka to Mormugao Port and back,” the CEC said.
“The only justification given by the user agency for this rail doubling project is due to industrial growth in Karnataka and growth of tourism and that the existing single railway line capacity is saturated. But there are no material facts and figures to support the claim of growth of industry and tourism and saturation of the existing single line,” the CEC said.
NOT ONLY COAL...
RVNL in their response with regard to the justification for doubling of line, had told the CEC that the project through the Kulem-Castlerock section is not only for the transportation of iron ore or coal but is also for the transportation of various other goods to and from Mormugao Port apart from the long standing demand for passenger trains. The carriage of coal when compared to the past has declined from 12.27 million tonnes in 2015-2016 to 9.57 million tonnes in 2019-2020.
“In the event of increased demand for transport by rail then in such a scenario the products can be transported to Ports other than Mormugao. It cannot be overlooked that the capacity addition of railway lines to Ports in the East coast does not involve the destruction of the fragile ecosystem as in the case of railway lines passing through the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats. The requirement of import export connectivity to ports of northern Karnataka can therefore be best achieved by developing better rail connectivity to Krishnapatnam port.
ECOLOGY AT STAKE
RVNL has stated that the Railway line route to Chennai and Krishnapatnam Port are over saturated and use of ports in East Coast is not plausible without first laying an additional track. In the circumstances instead of first laying an additional track to the East coast Ministry of Railways has proposed connectivity to Mormugao by laying an additional most inefficient track passing through an ecologically sensitive Western Ghats,” the CEC said.
“The additional rail tracks to Krishnapatnam Port and Chennai, as and when constructed will not be passing through biodiversity rich fragile ecosystems like that of Western Ghat and will also not be like existing inefficient track with gradient of 1:37 with all its serious drawbacks. The trains to Krishnapatnam Port and Chennai will also be able to run at speeds averaging 100 Km per hour instead of 30-40 Km per hour and will not be requiring five engines to pull it in one direction. Also on application of ecological cost to the movement of rakes to Mormugao it will be more advantageous to move the goods to ports located on the Eastcoast," the CEC said.
"Even otherwise, keeping in view the operationalisation of Konkan Railway, the proposed four-laning of NH-4A and augmentation of air connectivity to Goa by having a new airport, doubling the section of the most inefficient rail line between Castlerock “ Goa cannot be justified from operational or economic or ecological angle," the report states.
IMPACT ON GHATS
With respect to the impacts on the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats, the CEC has pointed out the various potential harmful effects that the government has failed to consider.
“The actual loss of Wildlife Habitat will be much larger than what has been projected in the proposal for Forest and Wildlife Clearance because these proposals have not taken into account for the forest land of similar ecological significance and which will actually be required for parking heavy machinery and the area required for road connectivity and for setting up of two stone crusher units as proposed by RVNL and for dumping of construction material; the construction of the second line is expected to generate 17,59,000 cubic metre of muck and the handling/disposal of the same will have serious ecological consequences in a high rainfall project site during construction phase,” the CEC said.
RISK TO ANIMALS
The widening of the right of way (ROW) and resultant increase in the number of trains on doubling of track and enhanced speed along level terrain within the Wildlife habitat will make animal crossing much more risky and dangerous; the territorial integrity of the largest network of the Protected area in the Western Ghats landscape is going to be permanently further dissected and will have serious consequences on the dispersal of long range Wildlife across the landscape.
“The cuttings of hills for laying the second line involving construction of 23 tunnels will accentuate further landslides in high rainfall areas like that of Western Ghats increased numbers of trains carrying goods such as coal and ore associated with increased pollution of an ecologically fragile and biodiversity rich forest and which in turn will impair the species diversity in a stable forest landscapes one of the eight biodiversity hotspots of the world,” the CEC said in its report.
NBW CHIDED
The CEC also pulled up the Standing Committee of the National Board of Wildlife for applying double standards for the Goa section of the project and the Karnataka section of the project.
The Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife (SC NBWL) in its 56th meeting held on 17.12.2019 has recommended the railway line doubling project proposal in respect of the Goa portion but did not deem it necessary to obtain any specific recommendation on mitigation measures from the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.
However, later in its 59th meeting held on 5th October 2020, in respect of the same railway line doubling project proposal but falling in Karnataka portion between Tinaighat “ Castlerock “ Caronzol SC NBWL deemed it necessary to obtain specific recommendation of the Wildlife Institute of India with regard to the mitigation measures to be undertaken before making its recommendation, the CEC noted.
“Since the Forest and Wildlife in the project area in both the States of Goa and Karnataka where the project is being implemented are identical and contiguous and form part of the same Western Ghat landscape and since the Wildlife in this landscape move freely without any reference to the State boundaries which divide their habitat, examination of the proposals by the Standing Committee in piece meal and application of different standards for different stretches of the same wildlife habitat is not understood,” the CEC said.
TIGER CORRIDOR
“The camera trap photographs captured on either side of the railway track and the recent reported killing of four tigers in Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary in the State of Goa goes to establish that the landscape through which the railway line passes is an important Tiger Corridor connecting the three States of Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra,” they said.
“It is also rather unusual for the SC NBWL to have examined the phase II of railway line doubling project from Tiniaghat in Karnataka to Vasco in Goa as two separate projects and in the process given its approval for Goa portion on 17th December, 2019 and for Karnataka portion only on 05.01.2021 after a period of more than one year,” the CEC said.
