The greens vs development riddle called Hubballi-Ankola railway line

Commerce trumps common sense?

The recent visit of a central experts committee to assess and consult stakeholders of Hubballi-Ankola rail line (HARL) project in Uttara Kannada and Dharwad districts has revived hopes of the people on the project.

They believe that the BJP government will implement the railway line, the foundation for which was laid by late prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999.

Politicians and businessmen from the region claim that the track can boost development and economic activities in U-K district, which has highest green cover in the state and ranks low in per capita income.

However, environment activists opposing the project say implementation of the project in the ecologically sensitive Sahyadri Hills would cause irreversible damage to Western Ghats and result in landslides, flooding, fragmentation of forest and animal kill.

The 168-km proposed route connects Hubballi junction with Ankola station.

Also read | 'No objections' raised against Hubballi-Ankola railway line

Of the total stretch, the tracks run in arid region for 34.8 km and the rest in thick vegetation, including the 89-km stretch between Yellapur and Baleguli (Ankola taluk) or Arbail Ghat, which has highly endemic species of vegetation.

While environmentalists and forest officials claim the proposed line passes through elephant corridor, advocates representing locals say HARL passes at least 14 km away from the buffer zone of Kali tiger reserve.

Hemanth Naik, retired scientist from Indian Institute of Technology (Madras), says the Arbail Ghat, like any other ghats of the Western Ghats, is home to some rare herbal species.

There are herbs that have potential to cure cancer and the total worth of these herbs (Rs 21,000 crore annually in international market) is several times higher than revenue that the line could earn in next 100 years, he said.

Three separate writ petitions have been filed in courts against the project, which received a green signal from State Board of Wildlife in March 2020.

Death-trap

Locals are well aware of the fact that HARL will be of little help to them in terms of passenger trains.

However, there is overwhelming support for it as they believe that it will decongest the two-lane national highway passing through Arbail Ghat, reducing accidents.

Milton S Fernandes and Uday Naik of Sunksal village in Ankola taluk say every day nearly 4,000 heavy/goods vehicles use Arbail Ghat.

Locals say if railway operations start, at least 60% of the load will be shifted from the highway.

They said, with the railway line, the cost of traveling or transporting goods to Hubballi, Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Mumbai, and Goa will reduce drastically.

But, there is also some inhibition among villagers, especially those who have encroached on forest land and cultivated it for decades.

Sources in forest department said nearly 80% of farmers have encroached upon forest land between Ankola and Yellapur. These farmers may be evacuated without compensation or alternative arrangements.

Rajeev Goankar of Rail Seva Samithi, who is fighting a case in favour of the project in High Court, counters the argument that nearly 2.2 lakh trees need to make way for the project.

“As per revised plans, only 1.6 lakh trees will be axed. Of this, a majority are secondary plantations by forest department. These trees will be cut for one or the other reason. Why not for HARL?” he says.

Labour Minister Shivaram Hebbar said HARL will help Navy Base, Sea Bird, in times of war as railways can transport military equipment and foot soldiers at fast pace.

Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said the project will reduce cost of transporting goods/raw materials like coal for thermal power plants.

The South Western Railway, the ports department and politicians have been seeking this project to connect Karwar, Honnavar, and Belikeri ports with hinterlands of North Karnataka to transport either coal (for thermal plants) or export iron ore from Ballari and Hosapete region.

Advocate Sreeja Chakraborthy, who was earlier representing one of the petitioners against the project, says the line could become unviable in future as India is a signatory to Paris Accord, where PM Narendra Modi had declared to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from thermal plants. So, import of coal has to be reduced. Secondly, Supreme Court’s 2013 order discourages export of iron ore.

Environment activist Giridhar Kulkarni, whose writ petition in HC resulted in the committee’s visit, asked why the government is not looking at alternatives.

“Ankola and Karwar (part of Konkan railway) are not far away from Goa port. Goods can easily be transported to the hinterland via the existing Goa-Castle Rock-Londa line.”

Retired principal chief conservator of forests B J Hosamath says the railway line in the pristine forest between Yellapur and Ankola is akin to injecting slow poison into a healthy body.

While those seeking the project blame operators of heavy vehicles, oil tankers and private buses for stalling it, naysayers blame it on industrialists developing ports, mining, stone quarrying, timber and cement industries for pressuring the government to allow it.