Hubballi-Ankola railway line: Wildlife board for relook into proposal

In a fresh setback to the long-pending Hubballi-Ankola railway line, the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBW) has directed the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) to hold further discussions on the project proposal and steps needed to reduce ecological damage.

The committee, at its recent meeting chaired by Union Minister for Environment and Forests Bhupender Yadav, favoured integrated approach for development of the railway line as well as the proposed highway widening works to mitigate ecological damage.

"It was decided that the ministry shall organise a workshop under the chairmanship of ADG Wildlife, with officials of the Ministry of Railways, National Highways Authority of India, Gati Shakti, Karnataka government and experts from Indian Institute of Technology, Dharwad, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and CPWD to discuss the project proposal in detail," according to the minutes of the meeting.

Earlier, the MoEF had constituted a seven-member committee to study the project.

The committee, in its report submitted to the ministry, said that the existing project proposal has certain gaps/discrepancies.

It recommended that the project proposal in the present form should not be considered.

The project may qualify for consideration by the standing committee of the NBW only when all gaps/discrepancies and issues raised by the committee members, as mentioned in the report, are addressed to minimise ecological loss and submitted afresh, the committee had said.

The minutes of the NBWL meeting highlighted concerns expressed by members about the damage to forests as well as wildlife in the biodiversity-rich Western Ghats.

The project bifurcates the tiger corridor and there is a proposal for road widening apart from the railway project. There is a need for an integrated plan for this important tiger corridor area, it was felt.

The state had submitted a proposal for wildlife clearance for the railway line in 2017.

The project involves diversion of an area of 595.64 hectares of forest land for the construction of a new broad gauge railway line from Hubballi to Ankola, passing through the tiger corridors connecting Kali tiger reserve with Sharavathi sanctuary.