Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The High Court of Bombay At Goa has dismissed petition pleading to declare Tamnar power transmission line as illegal, null and void. The High Court while dismissing the petition observed that ‘Project is in public interest’.
The petitioners argued before the high court that the Supreme Court’s ruling and the Central Empowered Committee’s (CEC) recommendations are in conflict with the planned 400 kV line route between Xeldem and Mapusa.
They claimed that the work is being done in defiance of the Supreme Court, the CEC’s recommendations, and the lack of authorized alignment lines. They added that, other from the current 220kV route, the project has no authority to access their properties at Amona.
Senior attorney S Padiyar argued on behalf of the Amona villagers that the petitioners would lose their main source of income because there would be a significant obstruction to using the land over which the transmission lines are to pass, in addition to losing valuable parcels of land for the construction of towers.
He said that no new alignment plans have been created in compliance with the Supreme Court’s ruling, and no new permissions from authorities—including the Central Electricity Authority—had been secured.
A careful examination of the Supreme Court’s order in the T N Godavarman Hirumulpad (supra) case, as well as the CEC’s recommendations and observations, the division bench, which included justices M S Karnik and Valmiki Menezes, stated that these recommendations are in the context of forest area and cover forest and wildlife in the ecologically delicate and biodiversity-rich Western Ghats of Goa.
“The arguments made by the learned senior advocate for the petitioners that the proposed 400kV line should be drawn along the existing 220kV corridor line between Mapusa and Sangod stretch and 220kV line between Sangod and Xeldem stretch do not find any merit in light of the observations and recommendations of the CEC,” the high court declared.
Representing M/s Goa Tamnar Transmission Project Ltd. were advocate general Devidas Pangam and advocate Ashwin Bhobe, who filed a submission with the high court promising prompt attention to the compensation claim and legal release, as well as careful planning to minimize any harm to the petitioners’ properties during project execution.
