The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) has also cited a Maharashtra government note — submitted in the past — that said the city's drinking water needs have been taken care of till 2031 to strongly recommend against a forest clearance for the Kalu river dam project.
The government had said this while seeking clearance from the ministry for the Shai river project. It had said no new source of water would be necessary once the project was completed. The ministry had given a stage-I approval based on this declaration.
“The state government has not furnished any justification in this regard while forwarding the current proposal," the committee said in its report.
The FAC has castigated the government for not submitting a rehabilitation plan, an environmental impact assessment report, a report on the wildlife status and management and the gram sabha's resolution from the forest dwellers. Union environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan will take the final call on the matter.
DNA had first reported that the Kalu dam would submerge more than 2,100 hectares of land, including 1,000 hectares of dense forests, if it were to come up. When Shramik Mukti Sanghatna, which is spearheading the protest by local adivasis against the dam, moved the Bombay high court, DNA had exposed how the government lied in its affidavit on the total number of villages, people and land that would be affected by the dam. Read the full report here.
Source: by Mayank Aggarwal, DNA, Delhi.
