PANAJI: The opposition in the state called on the Goa government to scrap the ongoing work to lay a parallel track along the existing south-western railway line that runs between Tinaighat in Karnataka and Vasco da Gama and onward to Mormugao Port in Goa.
Opposition leaders in Goa demanded that the government halt the construction of a parallel railway track along the existing south-western line between Tinaighat in Karnataka and Vasco da Gama, which leads to Mormugao Port in Goa.
Opposition leaders led by Vijai Sardesai questioned why the government was rushing to acquire the land despite the Supreme Court cancelling its forest clearances and questioning the need for the project.
“Acquisition of land is on for 14 metres from the centre of the existing track. The railway will reach right inside people’s houses. Karnataka has one major port and 12 minor ports. Why don’t you take it (the coal) there? Finally, this coal is for Karnataka only, it is not for Goa. It has no benefit for Goa. Karnataka is 56 times bigger than Goa. This will lead to destruction if it goes forward,” Sardesai said.
In May last year, the Supreme Court ruled that there was no “substantial basis” for the railways to undertake the doubling of the Tinaighat to Vasco da Gama route cutting across the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats and revoked the environmental clearances for the project.
Activists in Goa have alleged that the double tracking is being carried out only to facilitate the transport of coal between Goa’s Mormugao Port and Karnataka’s Bellary district.
Congress leader Carlos Ferreira said the state government was pushing forward with the project despite the Supreme Court pointing out that even the existing capacity was being underutilised.
“The Supreme Court has said — and I’m reading from the SC judgement — the current movement of the railway rakes is 20%. The capacity and utilisation of the line is below 50%. A third railway line from Toranagallu to Krishnapatnam port would be a better alternative than connecting Mormugao Port to the Industrial Belt of Bellary District. Four-laning of National Highway 4A along the same route was being undertaken. NTCA approval is needed. If all these things are noted and you cannot complete the ghat section, what is your urgency in completing the [land] acquisition in the lower section,” Ferreira said.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, however, said that work will continue in areas not covered by the Supreme Court’s verdict.
“Whatever the SC has banned we have stopped. Nothing is being taken forward. It is not our intention to damage anybody’s house and we will be going forward preserving as much as possible. Whatever the SC has said to stop will be stopped. The environmental impact study is ongoing. But what has not been banned by the Supreme Court continues,” Sawant said.
“The Ministry of Railways or RVNL have failed to provide any substantial basis for the requirement of doubling the railway line by addressing the impact which it would have on the habitat and the damage that it would cause to the environment,” the three-judge Supreme Court bench said on May 9 last year.
The court, however, left a window open for the railways to “submit a fresh proposal to the Standing Committee of NBWL” after carrying out “a detailed analysis on the impact of the proposed project on the biodiversity and ecology of the protected areas under the wildlife sanctuary” which the court said “shall be considered in accordance with law.”
“If that (the ghat section of the project) is stopped, why are you insisting on completing this (the coastal section)? Scrap the project. This is a chain, it is a link. If this cannot be done, what is the use of doing the first part?” Ferreira said.
