Kamat takes up Mollem projects with central panel

Panaji: Expressing concern over the rampant cutting of trees and destruction of the environment, opposition leader Digambar Kamat has written a letter to the Supreme Court-constituted Central Empowered Committee to intervene and stop the three projects that are slated to come up in wildlife areas.

Kamat said that the environmentally destructive infrastructure projects had received “dubious forest clearances” as the stringent processes put in place to safeguard protected forests have been disregarded.

“These three projects have been viewed in isolation. If viewed together one will be able to see that the three projects fragment Goa’s largest protected areas irreversibly,” said Kamat in the memorandum.

The three projects that Kamat is referring to are the NH 4-A expansion, the 400KV transmission line and the doubling of South Western Railway’s track from Hospet to Vasco. The three projects are set to come up in the Mollem National Park and Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary.

“I sincerely request you to seek detailed responses from government officials, user agencies and please do consider making socially and ecologically sanctioned decisions in the spirit of democracy and dialogue, which has been totally missing in the process,” said the Congress MLA.

Students, activists and even 150 private tour operators of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa have written to the environment minister expressing concern over the three destructive projects. A copy of Kamat’s letter has also been sent to Union minister for environment, forests and climate change Prakash Javadekar.