Bullet train: Wildlife Board clears land use for power line in sanctuary

The National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) has approved use of 6.783hectares to shift 220Kv Padghe Vasai and 100Kv Padghe Vasai transmission lines due to the proposed alignment of the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL), National High Speed Railway Corporation Ltd (NHRCL) and Multimodal Corridor within Tungareshwar sanctuary.

The Maharashtra Government had constituted a committee to examine three alternate alignments which found the present proposed alignment as the most suitable from forest and wildlife points of view.

However, the NBWL has laid down a few conditions, including the animal passage plan and the management plan for areas below the transmission lines by planting dwarf plants. Moreover, the work of shifting the lines should be completed in the minimum possible time.

An annual compliance certificate on the stipulated conditions shall be submitted by the project proponent to the State Chief Wildlife Warden, who will submit the annual compliance certificate to the Government of India.

Also cleared: Use of reserved forest for Thane service road

The wildlife board has also given its nod for use of 0.6025hectares of a reserved forest area from the Sanjay Gandhi National Park for a service road from Kolshet to Bhaindarpada in the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) as part of road widening. The service road would cross the national park at three places.

However, the board has asked the TMC to implement the animal passage plan and submit an annual compliance certificate on the stipulated conditions to the State Chief Wildlife Warden.

The project proponent would convert all culverts into box culverts and construct cement concrete walls with barbed wire where there is forest area only on one side of Ghodbunder Road. Signages about wildlife movement and speed breakers would also be erected along the road.