PANAJI
The standing committee for the National Board for Wildlife has once again deferred a proposal for grant of permission to double the Tinaighat-Castlerock-Caranzol stretch of the South Western Railway for want of clearance from the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
The committee which met in early October, decided to instead wait for the completion of a study from the Wildlife Institute of India which they have now directed the WII to complete in two months. The WII which was earlier granted three weeks has now sought more time as well as financial assistance to complete the study.
The South Western Railway line is being widened from Tinaighat in Karnataka and Vasco da Gama in Goa. However, on the Tinaighat-Castlerock-Caranzol section on the Karnataka side permissions are yet to be issued because the stretch passes through reserve forest which is also a notified tiger sanctuary and hence needs permission from the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
Earlier too, in a meeting held on July 3, the NWBL took up the proposal on the Karnataka side of the double tracking project but decided to “defer the project till the receipt of the report from the NTCA, for further consideration in the matter.
The NTCA vide its letter No 7-12/2020 NTCA dated 22.07.2020 while recommending the proposal, has desired a detailed study for prescribing mitigation measures in the terrain might be conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.
That deferment will continue till the WII submits its report and the NTCA submits its report to the National Board for Wildlife.
