The Supreme Court has approved in toto the recommendations of the Centrally Empowered Committee and directed that the proposed Tamnar transmission line should be aligned with the existing one to avoid clearing virgin forest cover in Mollem, but the eco-warriors, who are spearheading the agitation, have demanded that the entire project be scrapped as the existing power line is enough to meet Goa’s needs for the next 25 years. India’s pledges at international forums committing to increased use of renewable energy are at odds with a massive investment of resources in a new power line. And all that power for whom? Goa is a tiny, low industrialised state with not much need for power, it is only the neighbouring states which will benefit from the Tamnar project.
The same is the case with the two other linear projects i.e. highway expansion and railway track doubling through the Mollem forests, both of which would majorly be used to transport coal to the steel mills of Karnataka and would only increase pollution in our air and water. The SC order is like a light at the end of the tunnel for people whose heart beats for Goa, but we should not let our guards down.
