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1. In Interlocutory Application (I.A.) No.1308 of 2005 and other connected I.A.s in Writ Petition (C) No.202 of 1995, this Court on 05.10.2015 directed the National Board for Wildlife (‘NBWL’) to furnish a copy of the orders passed by it relating to matters of National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries. The Central Empowered Committee (‘CEC’) was given liberty to 1 | Page approach this Court by filling an appropriate application, if they were not satisfied with the decision of the Standing Committee of NBWL while other aggrieved parties were given the liberty to approach the appropriate forum.

2. In its 56th meeting held on 17.12.2019, the Standing Committee of NBWL recommended the proposal for wildlife clearance for doubling of existing railway line from Castlerock (Karnataka) to Kulem (Goa) involving 120.875 hectares of land within protected area and 113.857 hectares of land in non-protected area reserved forest 7.018 hectares, passing through Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary, subject to fulfilling certain conditions.

3. The Goa Foundation filed an application before the CEC on 26.06.2020 stating that the Standing Committee of NBWL had recommended granting wildlife clearances for doubling of 26 km stretch of the railway line in Western Ghats from Castlerock in Karnataka to Kulem in Goa in violation of the order passed by this Court on 05.10.2015. Apart from the objection to the project by Goa Foundation, a large number of appeals/representations were received by the CEC from scientists, researchers, ecologists, environmentalists, 2 | Page lawyers, veterinarians, artists, painters, illustrators, filmmakers, musicians, sculptures, students, villagers, tourism and travel trade. After examining the matter in detail, the CEC submitted Report No.6 of 2021 on 23.04.2021 in the application filed by Goa Foundation. In this report, the CEC recommended revocation of the permission granted by the Standing Committee for NBWL for doubling of the railway line passing through the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats from Tinaighat-Castlerock in Karnataka to Kulem in Goa involving 120.875 hectares of land as such permission was in violation of the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEF&CC) under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and the order dated 05.10.2015.

 g) Preservation of biodiversity and conservation of the eco-system of the western ghats outweighs the need for doubling the railway line.

13. On behalf of RVNL, the project proponent, it was submitted that the project is super critical and it was sanctioned in 2011-2012. Connectivity to Goa and the hinterlands was taken into account by the Ministry of Railways before the project was sanctioned. All statutory clearances have been obtained before undertaking the doubling of the railways line. Stage II clearance was granted by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change on 12.04.2022 for undertaking doubling in the State of Karnataka and Goa. It was further stated that the Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary has not been notified as a Tiger Reserve under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and therefore there was no need for RVNL to approach the NTCA seeking a report for the Goa part of the Project. It was contended by RVNL that the CEC failed to take into account that observations of the NTCA pertained to Danderi Wildlife Sanctuary in the State of Karnataka and not with respect to the project falling within the State of Goa. The project 13 | P a g e proponent attempted to justify the project by contending that State-of-the-Art wildlife mitigation measures have been adopted by the project proponent, implementation of which is being monitored by the experts. RVNL also brought to the notice of this Court a Comprehensive Biodiversity and environment assessment undertaken by the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru for Castlerock and Kulem stretch in August, 2017. It assured this Court that Rail over-bridges and Road under-bridges would be constructed for crossing of animals. This Court was further informed that there has not been a single instance of death of any major animal, including tiger, since 1890s on the railway track. An assurance was given to this Court that there would be no additional disturbance to the forest area as no separate pathway would be constructed in the forest area for transportation of goods and machinery which would be carried out in the most ecologically efficient manner. Only such of those trees which are essential will be felled and compensatory afforestation would be taken up. Permission was sought from NBWL for sanction of doubling of railway line from Castlerock to Kulem after examining all the other 14 | P a g e alternatives. RVNL contended that the material that was submitted was not taken into consideration by the CEC before recommending for revocation of the license granted by the NBWL for doubling of the railway line.

21. The landscape in which the railway line is proposed to pass is an important tiger corridor, connecting the three States of Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra. The report prepared by the NTCA regarding the viability of such a 20 | P a g e railway line is only for the Karnataka part of the project. No such report has been prepared for the Goa part. The Standing Committee of NBWL ought to have sought for a report from NTCA on the Goa part of the project before granting approval for the doubling of the railway line between Castlerock to Kulem in view of the fact that it is an important tiger corridor where instances of killing of tigers have been reported. We find merit in the recommendations made by the CEC regarding the necessity of taking into account the actual loss of the wildlife habitat by the construction activity for the doubling of the railway line for which heavy machinery would have to be moved and crusher units will have to be established for dumping construction material. The point raised by RVNL before CEC regarding the enhancement of connectivity between Goa and Karnataka by the proposed project was rightly rejected on the ground that there was a proposal for 4-lanning of National Highway-4 along with the same route and augmentation of air connectivity to Goa. We are unable to uphold the approval granted to the project by NBWL on the basis of the assurance given by RVNL that all possible 21 | P a g e mitigation measures shall be taken to protect bio-diversity and eco system of the protected areas under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. RVNL has proposed to undertake impact assessment, thorough study of long-term impact, planning of various mitigation measures for safeguarding interest of wildlife habitat and flora and fauna. RVNL has also proposed to construct under-passes/overbridges at identified locations of track crossings by wild animals to ensure safe crossings of tracks by animals. CEC in its report submitted that it was noticed during the site visit that it was not possible to construct any sort of under-passes at the said location. Therefore, the mitigation measure proposed to be undertaken by RVNL is not clear. The report prepared by Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, “Biodiversity and Environmental Assessment of proposed doubling of railway track between Kulem and Castlerock in Goa-Karnataka” relied upon by RVNL was considered by CEC which observed that according to NTCA the study report of Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru lacks in critical assessment, particularly of project impacts. NTCA further suggested that there should be an independent and detailed assessment of the 22 | P a g e cumulative impact of the project for the entire stretch from Tinaighat to Kulem.