Environmental activist Debi Goenka criticises Maharashtra Wildlife Board for approving harmful projects | Representational Image
Mumbai: Noted environmental activist Debi Goenka has called out the Maharashtra State Board for Wildlife alleging failure to observe basic governance standards in the recent board meeting. He alleged that the non-government representatives of the board have failed to object to the government treating them as ‘green rubber stamps’.
On May 15, the State State Board for Wildlife, headed by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, decided on multiple projects, which were discussed in the Board’s meeting on April 17. This included Palghar’s Gargai Dam that is said to provide drinking water to Mumbai, mining in Gadchiroli and Tadoba-Andhari-Kawal Tiger Reserve among others.
Debi Goenka, an environmentalist and trustee of Conservation Action Trust, alleged that eight projects, including the proposal to allow mining in over 937 hectares of forest land at Gadchiroli’s Hedari, were cleared without discussions.
He also alleged that the board members were not informed of the conditions stipulated by the Chief Wildlife Warden and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), even though the CWW was present at the meeting.
“In view of the fact that there was no time given to even read the relevant documents, the entire proceedings were reduced to a farce. The fact that the entire board meeting lasted for less than 60 minutes indicates the seriousness with which our CM views the importance of wildlife and wildlife conservation,” Goenka said.
He alleged that the proposals to allow fishing inside Jayakwadi Sanctuary in Sambhajinagar are in violation of the statutory provisions of the Wild Life Protection Act. He also added that the proposal to build a jetty inside the sanctuary is intended to facilitate the installation of the solar panels under the guise of helping the fishermen to fish illegally within the sanctuary.
The board has recommended Palghar’s Gargai Dam project for consideration to the National Board of Wildlife. According to the minutes, M. Srinivasa Rao, Maharashtra’s chief wildlife warden and principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife), introduced this agenda claiming that this project will be important to provide drinking water to Mumbai. He also added that the project will cause rehabilitation of six villages and about 310ha of in-volatile land will be acquired for Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary.
Goenka alleged that the draft minutes neither record the area of the Tansa Sanctuary that will be destroyed by this project, nor the hundreds of thousands of trees that will be cut down.
“After destroying an integral part of Tansa Sanctuary, the government proposed to acquire 310ha of inviolate area for the sanctuary. It is not clear how this area will be in-volatile when it is clear that even existing national parks and sanctuaries are not,” he added.
He alleged that the meeting was convened at two days’ notice while the agenda was circulated a few minutes before the meeting. He also claimed that the draft minutes of the previous meeting held on August 12 and the Action Taken Report were not circulated earlier but were tabled at the meeting itself.
“It is therefore evident that though the board is supposed to protect wildlife and its habitat, it has now become a tool to approve environmentally destructive projects within national parks, sanctuaries, project tiger reserves and tiger corridors,” he added.
