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In Re: T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad vs. Union of India & Ors. (Castlerock: Kulem Railway Doubling)

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2022 INSC 531Decided 9 May 2022
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 202 of 1995
L. Nageswara Rao · B.R. Gavai · Aniruddha Bose · Vikram Nath

Background

This order arises within the Supreme Court's long-running (since 1995) forest conservation case. The National Board for Wildlife had approved doubling of a railway line between Castlerock (Karnataka) and Kulem (Goa), passing through the ecologically sensitive Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary in the Western Ghats: one of the world's recognised biodiversity hotspots and an important tiger corridor. The Goa Foundation and numerous scientists, ecologists and citizens objected, and the Court's own Central Empowered Committee (CEC) recommended revoking the approval, finding it had been granted without an adequate environmental and wildlife impact assessment.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court agreed with the CEC and revoked the wildlife clearance granted for doubling the railway line. It found that no proper study of the project's impact on the Goa stretch of the tiger corridor had been done (unlike for the Karnataka portion), that a viable alternative existed for transporting coal (via Krishnapatnam port) without needing this line, and that the railway authority's own mitigation proposals (like wildlife underpasses) were found unworkable on a site visit by the CEC. The Court held that a detailed, independent and credible impact study covering the entire stretch was essential before any such project could proceed in this sensitive habitat, but left it open to the railway authority to conduct such a study and resubmit a fresh proposal for consideration according to law.

Lesson Learnt

Infrastructure projects proposed inside ecologically protected areas and wildlife corridors cannot go ahead on the strength of assurances alone: regulators must insist on rigorous, independent scientific impact studies, and courts will step in to revoke approvals granted without them, even while leaving room for a properly-studied proposal later.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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