PANAJI
In a major setback to the locals, the State Board of Wildlife (SBWL) has granted its consent to the South Western Railways (SWR) for handling iron ore from the Kalem railway yard located in the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park.
The SWR had proposed to handle loading, unloading and transportation of ore at Kalem railway station yard located in the protected areas. The railway authority had declined to shift their iron ore handling activity from Kalem beyond 2 kms of the wildlife sanctuary boundary as “there is no feasibility”.
After initially raising concern about potential impact of allowing handling of ore on the wildlife sanctuary and national park area, the Board, under Chief Minister Pramod Sawant accorded its approval during a meeting held on Monday.
As per the proposal, total area of land involved in the wildlife area is 0.7616 ha including yard and approach road in the village in Sanguem taluka, forming part of the protected areas.
The proposal was recommended by the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWW), while directing the project proponent to ensure that no damage is done to forest and wildlife habitat during the execution of the work.
The proposal was submitted in accordance with the directions of the High Court dated February 5, 2024, wherein the Court said to “consider the disposal of the application in accordance with the law and on their own merits after granting an opportunity of hearing the applicant and petitioner therein. Such application should be disposed of within four weeks’.
The Kalem panchayat had raised strong objection to the CWW approval to the project and had even petitioned the Chief Minister not to grant the consent.
In yet another decision, the Board approved enhancing compensation in human-animal conflict cases. The Board recommended increasing the compensation for loss of life to Rs 15 lakh from current Rs 10 lakh, Rs 7.5 lakh in case of permanent disability, Rs 2 lakh and Rs 50,000 each in case of grievous and minor injuries, respectively.
