The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has given approval to the Indian Railways to forward to the government the project of the Hubballi-Ankola railway line. The project has been stalled until now because the rail line cuts across the eco-sensitive Western Ghats.
The 168-km rail link project was conceived in 1998 primarily to transport iron ore from the Ballari-Hospet mines. Last year, the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) rejected the project on the grounds that it would have a huge and irreparable “ecological impact on the forests, wildlife and biodiversity of the Western Ghats”.
The line will connect North Karnataka directly with Goa and Kerala and two big ports – Karwar and Mangaluru. “NGT has upheld the wish of the common man in the region,” said Madhav Naik, acting president of Konkan Railway User’s Committee of Karwar.
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