The state is of the view that the project could cause massive environmental threat to the Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary and the existence of tribals living within the fragile ecosystem.

“I would like to put on record the concern of our government and the anxiety of Goans living in Canacona taluka about the proposed thermal coal-based power plant at Hankon near Karwar,” Goa’s Minister for Environment Aleixo Sequeira said in a letter addressed to Union Minister for Environment Jairam Ramesh some months ago.

Sequeira said the Karnataka project was coming up just 5 km away from Goa’s Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary even though the Environment Act clearly stipulates that no such plants can be set up within a radius of 25 km from a wildlife sanctuary. 

“The people who include tribals residing around the forest are afraid of the irreparable damage and consequences that will be caused to this sensitive area,” he said. Sequeira told Deccan Herald that he also met Ramesh recently to push for an end to the project.

Goa is hoping that local protests in Karwar that have kept Ind Bharat Power Ltd from moving ahead with the power plant would eventually win the day.

Brushing aside a conditional environmental clearance for the 450 MW plant, a three-member committee set up by the MoEF which inspected the site in mid September has recommended a comprehensive impact assessment of the project for the final environmental clearance.