‘Declare Sawantwadi corridor ecologically sensitive by Dec’

Bombay High Court Friday directed the state and the Union governments to declare the Sawantwadi corridor in Sindhudurg an ecologically sensitive area by the end of the year.

The Bombay High Court Friday directed the state and the Union governments to declare the Sawantwadi corridor in Sindhudurg an ecologically sensitive area by the end of the year.

A division bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M S Sonak observed that despite several extensions granted to the government,it was yet to take a decision. We direct the secretary of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest to hold a meeting with the state Ministry of Environment and Forest officials by November 1 and discuss the legalities to complete the process to declare Sawantwadi corridor ecologically sensitive, said the court.

The court asked the state government to submit a proposal to the Centre by November 30 and asked the Centre to complete the legal process to declare the corridor as ecologically sensitive by December 31. Activist Sumaira Abdulali,through her NGO Awaaz Foundation,had filed a PIL seeking the declaration of the Sawantwadi-Doddamarg corridor as ecologically sensitive.

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The corridor is home to 303 species of plants,shrubs and trees,many with crucial medicinal values,18 species of wildlife,including the Bengal tiger,leopards,black bear and wild buffaloes,and 13 species of birds,the NGO had pointed out.

Earlier,the state government had told the court that it had stopped issuing new mining leases in the area.

The Centre had appointed the Western Ghats Ecology Panel under Dr Madhav Gadgil. The panel had recommended that the Western Ghats be declared ecologically sensitive and suggested a complete ban on mining in the area. Awaaz Foundation had sought the implementation of the panels report.

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