Goemkarponn desk
PANAJI: The State Board of Wildlife (SBWL) made a significant decision on by approving the Goa Tamnar Power Transmission line, which crosses the Mollem wildlife sanctuary, in principle.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane presided over the SBWL meeting.
“Board cleared the Tamnar electricity project.” said Sawant.
According to sources, the project has been approved in principle subject to a few restrictions, and the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) will give the project the final approval.
The chief minister also announced that the Board had approved the construction of eight BSNL towers in protected areas as well as ecotourism initiatives in the villages of Surla, Mollem, and Netravali.
Key conversations at the meeting, according to Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane, revolved around promoting ecotourism projects in the hinterland with community involvement.
He said that in order to create a thorough plan for the growth of ecotourism, the Board has requested that the Forest Department conduct research under the guidance of experts.
The Goa Tamnar Transmission Project Limited (GTTPL) project is an Inter State Transmission System project envisaged by the Ministry of Power in 2015. It was envisioned to create an additional source of power for the state of Goa which is currently dependent on the Western grid for its growing power requirements.
From the West, Goa is connected through the 400kV Kolhapur-Mapusa transmission line and from the South, through a single 220 kV transmission line.
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