The aerial survey in neighbouring Kerala for a railway line, connecting Thalassery with Mysuru via Wayanad, has created a flutter in Karnataka which has opposed the project.
Forest Department officials in Karnataka have averred that no permission had been issued so far for the survey for the Thalassery-Wayanad-Mysuru rail line which passes through or close to the protected areas in the State.
The denial comes in the wake of reports in The Hindu that the Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL) had launched a survey for the proposed linear project by using the heliborne geophysical mapping technique. The 10-day survey is expected to help assess the terrain, including the rock formation, soil, underground water resources etc., along the proposed alignment of the railway route.
A senior official said the project had been opposed by Karnataka in the past and its stance had not changed. “As far as aerial survey is concerned it was being conducted in Kerala as per the reports but nobody has approached us so far seeking permission,” said the official.
He said there was a general rule that unmanned vehicles or helicopters could not fly over protected zone and reiterated that so far nobody had approached them for permission. Wildlife activists in the State have stated that the aerial survey could not be conducted as flying over Bandipur or Nagarahole with helicopter was not allowed as per the Eco Sensitive Zone notification.
A retired Prinicipal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) said the linear project would affect a very fragile part of Western Ghats. “An attempt was made to have railway line from Nanjangud to Nilambur through Bandipur in the past but it was thwarted by the Forest Department,” the official said, adding that he hoped the Government of Karnataka would oppose this project as well.
Wildlife activists said a railway line through the area would accentuate human-animal conflict which was already high in the region.
Incidentally, there is wide-spread opposition to the Mysuru-Madikeri railway route as well, which received administrative clearance and budgetary support a few years ago.
But the project is yet to receive environmental clearance. Though the local MP Pratap Simha has stated that the railway line will not be extended beyond Kushalnagar, there is opposition to the project itself on the grounds that it is inimical to the environment and will accentuate human-wildlife conflict.
