A new 400 kV transmission line is planned which will power Goa with an additional source from Chhattisgarh by the Goa-Tamnar Transmission Project Ltd (GTTPL).
Part of the lines will pass through Karnataka, wiping out 177 hectares of forest land in the Western Ghats.
The centre is yet to clear this project.
According to documents obtained from the Centre, the project was first mooted during 2017 when the Central Electricity Authority under the Ministry of Power made a request for executing ‘Additional 400kV feed to Goa’. The transmission line starts from Narendra village in Dharwad by tapping the existing 400kV Narendra line of Power Grid Corporation of India and terminates at 400/200 kV substation at Xeldom in Goa.
The transmission line will pass through Dharwad, Belgaum and Uttara Kannada and South Goa district of Goa, reports the Deccan Herald.
Wildlife activist Giridhar Kulkarni said the foremost option for such linear intrusion project is to avoid important wildlife habitats as these intrusions have a range of immediate and long-term negative impacts, both ecologically and socially.
Activists said already this region has lost its virgin forest due to the expansion of the National Highway-4A and many other projects. “There should be a balance between development and conservation. If we are losing wildlife habitats, then attempts should be made to compensate it,” he urged, reports the New Indian Express.
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