The Supreme Court has set aside the National Board for Wildlife’s permission to lay high-tension power lines after clearing 10.5 km of virgin forest canopy in the ecologically fragile Western Ghats, for the Goa-Tamnar Transmission project.
In an order published on Friday, a Bench led by Justice L. Nageswara Rao instead favoured the court-appointed Central Empowered Committee’s (CEC) recommendation to lay the 400KV electric lines along the existing power line alignment which would not require felling of trees.
“CEC was of the view that instead of clearing canopy of virgin forest cover along 10.5 km long corridor with 46 m ROW in Goa, the proposed 400 KV line should be drawn along the existing 220 KV corridor line in Goa after establishing 400 KV corridor connectivity between Mapusa and Sangod and 220 KV line between Sangod and Xeldem. According to CEC, this course of action would ensure adequate supply of power to southern Goa region,” the court noted in its order dated April 7.
The CEC had been assigned by the court to examine the clearance given by the National Board for Wildlife to a route which had proposed to cut through Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary and the Mollem National Park.
The Goa Tamnar Transmission project proposes to establish a transmission system for an additional 400 KV feed to Goa and an additional system for power evacuation from generation projects pooled at Raigarh (Tamnar) on a ‘Build, Own, Operate and Maintain’ (BOOM) basis.
The project connects the southern region (Sangod/Xeldem) with the northern Goa region (Mapusa).
The court also agreed with the CEC that project proposal with respect to the Karnataka part should be suitably amended.
