Mollem National Park has long been the emerald crown of Goa.
The green jungle that covers this rugged area of the Western Indian Ghats is home to leopards, Bengal tigers, pangolins, black panthers and hundreds of endemic species of flora and fauna that are not found anywhere else on the planet. Goa’s muscular animal, the gaur, or Indian bison, is often seen crossing the woods and the park’s Dudhsagar waterfall is among the highest in the country.
However, Mollem and the nearby Bhagwan Mahaveer shrine, which cover a protected area of 240 square km, are divided and partially deforested by three invasive projects; the duplication of a railway line, the expansion of the road, and an electric power transmission line.
“This is an area declared by Unesco as one of the eight biodiversity hotspots in the world and which includes a proposal for a tiger reserve. This project will undo so many things that it will never be possible to recover, ”said Claude Alvares, a Goa Foundation activist who initiated a lawsuit against the three projects in the Bombay High Court and before a Supreme Court committee.
Indian law prohibits the construction of wildlife sanctuaries, but the government has approved them in the name of the public interest and future development of Goa. However, many believe that these three projects are part of a master plan to turn India’s smallest state into a corridor for a five-fold increase in coal imports by some of the industrialists. India’s largest, known for its close ties to the ruling Bharatiya Janata (BJP) party.
Cumulatively, it will try to divert 378 hectares (934 acres) of forest to Goa, cut down 40,000 protected trees and move more than 1.8 million tons of mud and earth from inside the sanctuary.
Activists and citizens claim that these projects have been driven by Goa by the central government without any public consultation or transparency. They are now facing multiple legal challenges and have unleashed a grassroots opposition movement different from anything seen in Goa for decades, with thousands taking to the streets in protest. Students, artists, biologists, tourism agencies and 150 scientists have written to India’s Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and the Supreme Court to demand the halt of the projects, alleging that environmental laws have been breached or ignored. . More than 8,000 people took part in a recent demonstration and dozens have been booked by police or arrested.
“Not only are we saving the forests of Mollem for their beauty, but for the survival of life in Goa,” said artist Svabhu Kohli, who launched the My Mollem campaign, which brought together artists, lawyers, researchers, biologists and local communities to raise awareness through art and action of the impact the projects could have on Mollem.
“They say they are doing it to benefit the people of Goa. But everyone in Goa knows that Mollem has a special magic, so how can it be beneficial to cut down irreplaceable forests? And if it’s for us, why did they never consult us? ”
For the past three years, Goa’s main port, Mormugao Port Trust, in the north of the state, has been in a state of expansion to become a center of imported coal. Since 2018, two of India’s leading coal importers, Adani and JSW, have installed several terminals in the port.
In 2020, the Ministry of Environment granted permission for a third deepwater coal and dredging terminal to house large coal vessels. The port currently handles 12 million tonnes of coal, but importers expect to increase them to 51 million tonnes by 2035.
Goa activists have linked coal imports to an increase in air pollution, lung disease and, more recently, an increase in Covid-19 deaths in villages near where coal is unloaded and transported.
Coal entering Goa is not even used in the state, but is transported across the border to steel and power plants in neighboring Karnataka and Maharashtra.
However, as the master plan pointed out, for this long-term expansion plan to be feasible, the old railway and winding line of Goa, which crossed Mollem to reach neighboring states, would have to be widened. , to deal with heavy coal trucks and frequent freight trains needed to transport coal to the border. “This is the most important initiative and lifeline for port operations in the future,” the master plan stated regarding the duplication of the railway line.
The railway extension was the first of three controversial projects that obtained the seal of approval of the National Wildlife Board (NBW), which reports to the Ministry of Environment, in December 2019. The project, which it consists of cutting deep tunnels in the sanctuary and the disturbance of 1.8 million tons of soil was justified to meet future customer demand. But locals say the line is rarely busy.
The former head of Goa’s forestry department, Richard D’Souza, had originally refused to approve the railway project in 2013, as it was unnecessary and unjustifiably destructive to Mollem’s delicate biodiversity.
Map of Mollem, Goa
“I didn’t think it was appropriate for the railway to be duplicated in the sanctuary because I’ve seen all these animals with my own eyes, the black panther, the bats, the gaur and the tigers, and the biodiversity is nowhere else.” , said D’Souza. “It wasn’t necessary either because there weren’t many passengers on that line.”
The government commissioned an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the project. However, it was carried out by an academic who is also part of the NBW government, which later approved the railway project in December 2019. “You can see how this is a complete conflict of interest,” he said. dir Alvares.
“The duplication of the railway will be a disaster, there is no doubt,” D’Souza added. “The whole sanctuary is very steep and you will have to cut the ground deeply and you will have to cut down huge trees. The famous Dudhsagar waterfall is located next to the tracks and is likely to be damaged in the works. They should leave it as it is; that will save the sanctuary, that will save the wild life, the biodiversity and everything ”.
The other two projects that will affect Mollem – the widening of the road to a four-lane road and the initial phases of a new power line – were approved in April by the NBW.
The green lighting of central government projects sparked outrage in Goa, as many were unaware that they were even in preparation due to what Nandini Velho, a Goa wildlife biologist, described as “a complete deficit information and lack of transparency “.
Lawyer Sreeja Chakraborty has filed a legal appeal against the highway project for what she called “clear discrepancies in the application.” He stressed that the EIA made by the road specified that only one species of bird had been found in Mollem. “A bird, in the entire 200 square kilometers of a wildlife sanctuary, when anyone walking through Mollem sees several species, including the Goa national bird, the yellow-throated bulb. This is absurd and disgusting. But if you don’t record what’s there, no one will know what’s lost, ”he said.
“They can’t advocate widening the road based on traffic data, it doesn’t get up,” Chakraborty said. “It is part of a multiple attack on Goa to help expand the coal port and at every step of the way we have found that the proper procedure has not been followed.”
The state and central government justify the new power line, which will allow the erection of six 22-meter-high pylons through Mollem, as needed to bring electricity to remote areas of Goa and say they require less than 0.25 hectares. of terrain. The project has already begun and, in April, 20,000 trees were cut down at the edge of the sanctuary to make way for the electrical substation.
Activists say the power line will conveniently serve the interests of coal imports, providing more energy to the port and allowing the train’s engines to be switched to electricity, so they can operate more quickly, frequently and efficiently for future transportation. of coal. “There is nothing in any document connecting the transmission line with the railway, but the situation on the ground is very clear,” Chakraborty alleged.
Subhash Chandra, the state government’s chief forest conservator, said the new elevated road would halve the time it would take to get around the shrine. “We are taking all necessary measures to ensure that there is almost no conflict with wildlife and to ensure minimal damage to forests,” he said, stressing that a series of animal steps, underpasses and gates would be installed. around the road and the railway. to avoid collisions. However, environmentalists were biting. “This is a forest, not a circus,” Alvares said. “Wild animals will not follow directions to cross a road safely.”
Defending the three projects, Chandra said: “This is to meet human, commercial and business needs. India is a developing country and our role in the forestry department is to balance conservation with development needs. The environment is not a static thing, nature has incredible power to adapt and recover, and the status quo cannot continue forever, Goa must progress ”.
Goa BJP chief minister Pramod Sawant has repeatedly denied that any of these projects boost coal transport capacity, describing them as a “nation-building exercise” without “any threat to Mollem”. In November, he promised that coal imports to Mormugao Port Trust would be reduced by 50% and said he had asked the center not to turn Goa into a coal hub. The Adani group has denied any role in the projects affecting Mollem.
Meanwhile, Save Mollem’s protests and campaigns continue unabated in Goa’s towns and cities, inspiring a new generation of young Goans who have been confronting politicians and government officials for answers.
John Countinho, an environmentalist who was recently booked by police for his involvement in the protests, said he feared that if the projects went ahead, “he would secure Goa as a coal corridor for years; it makes it unlikely that they will go beyond coal towards renewable energies, as they would like returns on their investment in coal infrastructure ”.
Kohli, the artist and activist, said the future of Goa’s ecology “was hanging by a thread”. “Goa had a beautiful ecologically diverse coastline and because of greed and lack of vision, we lost a lot of our diversity,” he said. “We can’t let the same thing happen to Mollem.”