Expressing concern over Karnataka State Wildlife Board's decision to clear long pending Hubballi-Ankola railway line, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has urged the Centre to take immediate steps to protect ecologically sensitive Western Ghat, where the railway track passes through.
"I hope that Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal will intervene to prevent distruction of precious Western Ghat. I have redflagged the issue decade ago,"Jairam Ramesh, former Environment Minister and Rajya Sabha member feom Karnataka, tweeted.
The State Wildlife Board has cleared the project despite the opposition from environmentalists. The green activists have been opposing the project saying that to execute 164.44 km lane around 2 lakh fully grown trees in Uttar Kannada disteict of Western Ghats have to felled.
As per the current proposal, around 727 hectares of pristine forests diversion is required for alignment of tracks.
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