Projects in the protected coastal zone do not require prior approval for railroads: HC

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• Aug 8, 2022 | Sourav Boruah

 Digital Desk: The Bombay High Court in Goa has held that the Indian
Railways are not required to obtain prior approval under the Environmental
Protection Act from authorities before laying lines or starting construction
within regions in the protected coastal zone. The court further stated that
Section 11 of the Railways Act exempted railway authorities from almost all
laws unless expressly required by statute or by the Supreme Court.

The court made this
ruling in response to a petition filed by a group of Goan villagers who went by
the name Ganv Bavancho Ekvott and questioned the railroads' authority to start
building a second railway line through their community. The villagers have been
protesting the proposal, claiming that it will boost the capacity of the
railway to transport coal.

"If indeed the
legislature intended for the laying of a railway line or other incidental
activities to be prohibited under the Environmental Protection Act, the 2011
CRZ [Coastal Regulation Zone] notification, or even under the notification
issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests on September 14, 2006
(Environment Clearance notification), such a prohibition could have been
included, but only after amendment of the Railways Act and not before," a
bench of Chie said. On Monday, the order was uploaded.

Any railway
administration would be required to get this environmental clearance if the
Supreme Court were to rule in the future that a rail line cannot be installed
in a CRZ area without permission from the relevant Coastal Management
Authority.

The court stated:
"However, so long as such a requirement is not expressly set forth in any
judicial order, the mere fact that the railway authorities in this case have
sought approval from the forest and wildlife authorities would not ipso facto
impose upon SWR [South Western Railway] and RVNL [Rail Vikas Nigam] the
obligation to obtain environmental clearance from the GCZMA [Goa Coastal Zone
Management Authority]."

Between Hospet in Karnataka and Vasco-da-Gama in Goa, a
362.73 km line has been doubled by the Indian Railways. According to officials,
79.23% of the work, mostly in Karnataka, has been finished. 27 percent of the
project work of 21.49 kilometres, or 79 km, in Goa, has also been finished.