Why no tiger expert on Hubballi-Ankola rail panel, asks NGO

On June 3, MoEF had set up 7-member committee following the HC order

Civil society members have expressed concern over a committee set up by the Union forest and environment ministry to study the impact of the Hubballi-Ankola Railway line project on the Western Ghats, not including a representative from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

After an order from the Karnataka High Court, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change’s (MOEF&CC) Wildlife Division on June 3 set up a seven-member committee to examine the project. The committee is headed by additional director general of forests of the MOEF’s forest conservation division and comprises six others.

However, members of the Living Earth Foundation (LEAF) noted that the linear project is proposed in the buffer zone of the Anshi-Dandeli Tiger reserve and will pass through an intervening area between Kali and Bhadra Tiger Reserve in the biodiversity hotspot of the Western Ghats.

“In fact, the NTCA has submitted a site appraisal report in December 2017 on the diversion of the 595.64 ha of forest land in Karwar, Yellapur and Dharwad division for the (Hubballi-Ankola Railway) line,” the foundation said.

Noting that the terms of reference given by the MoEFCC allows the expert committee to “co-opt any expert for making assessment of the project,” The foundation stressed that an expert from the NTCA was a necessary party that can’t be left out of the committee.

Lack of transparency

Sreeja Chakraborty, Rajani Santosh and Sandhya Balasubramanian of the LEAF also expressed concern over the lack of transparency in the procedure adopted by the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL).

While the 68th meeting of the NBWL was held on May 30, the proceedings of the meeting were not uploaded on the MoeF website as on June 26. The order constituting the committee was also not made public.

The terms of reference also directs the committee to hear public representatives, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders who wish to present their views on the project. The committee has been given two and-a-half months to submit its report to the ministry, which will in turn place it before the high court.

The NGO wrote to the members of the committee requesting that the date of the site visit be communicated to the public at least one week earlier to provide an opportunity to hear the views of the public.