Jairam Ramesh opposes Hubballi-Ankola rly line

Expressing concern over Karnataka State Wildlife Board's decision to clear the 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 through which the the railway track passes.

"I hope that Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal will intervene to prevent the distruction of precious Western Ghat. I had red-flagged the issue a decade ago,"Jairam Ramesh, former environment minister and Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, tweeted.

The State Wildlife Board recently cleared the project despite opposition from environmentalists. The green activists have been opposing the project saying that two lakh trees have to axed in Uttara Kannada district to implement the project.