Wildlife activists in the State have aired their concern over the proposed Nanjangud-Nilambur (in Kerala) railway project approved in the Railway Budget 2016-17.
The concern stems from the negative impact on wildlife as the track alignment cuts through 10.2 km of Bandipur Tiger Reserve. Officials in the Mysuru Railway Division said it is proposed to offset the impact by boring a tunnel so as not to disturb wildlife. Divisional Railway Manager Rajkumar Lal said there was demand for inclusion of the project from the people in North Kerala to cut short the commuting distance to Karnataka.
However, wildlife activists and NGOs described the project as an ecological disaster waiting to happen. They pointed out that the same project was earlier rejected by the Railway Board on the grounds that the internal rate of returns was 0.895 but the main reason was that the railway line would cut through the core of Bandipur Tiger Reserve, according to wildlife activist V. Pramod.
“Since Bandipur is a tiger reserve, permission from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, the recommendations of the National and State Boards for Wildlife is mandatory as per the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Permission has not been acquired from any of the above till date. Also, the National Wildlife Action Plan (2002-16) provides the guidelines to Ministry of Surface Transport and Ministry of Railways to plan roads and railways in such a manner that all national parks and sanctuaries are bypassed and integrity of the protected area is maintained,” Mr. Pramod said.
Praveen Bhargav of Wildlife First said that Bandipur was a protected area and section 35(6) of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, says there shall be no destruction unless it is for the improvement or better management of wildlife and a railway line was in no way going to help the wildlife and hence, the project must not be allowed. “But if a suitable alignment not affecting the protected areas of Bandipur, Nagarahole and the wildlife corridors can be found then there will be no objection to it,” he added.
Though the Railway Budget pegs the distance of the Nanjangud-Nilambur line at 236 km at an approximate cost of Rs. 6,000 crore, ‘Metro Man’ E. Sreedharan has estimated that a revised alignment can reduce the distance from 236 km to 156 km and want the final location survey of the project to be taken up.
Several cases of wildlife mortality have been recorded in the country owing to railway lines. In addition to the disturbance and fragmentation, the proposed line will escalate human-wildlife conflict in the region. Bandipur is already reeling under the fragmentation posed by national highways 212 and 67 that cut across it
V. Pramod, wildlife activist
