Environment panel seeks a study on likely impact of the vibration of the proposed Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train on the mudflats and adjoining mangroves in Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary
An environment panel on Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) has called for a study on likely impact of the vibration of the proposed Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet train on the mudflats and adjoining mangroves in Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary, which hosts over 1 lakh flamingoes (Lesser and Greater Flamingo) every year.
An Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) in its meeting on March 18 sought a study while giving conditional clearance to the proposed Rs 1,08,000-crore project of the National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRC).
The standing committee of the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) in January had given a go-ahead for the diversion of over 100 hectares from around and three acres from the Thane Creek Flamingo Wildlife Sanctuary, over 110 hectares (forest/non forest land) from the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, and over five hectares from the Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary.
The mudflats near Thane Creek Flamingos Sanctuary are a rich feeding ground for the Flamingos who arrive in droves from Kutch. There are concerns that the intense vibration due to the Bullet train will disturb ecosystem of the mudflats which also supports a large number of birds including stints, grey herons, black-headed ibis, sandpipers, plovers and egrets, who feed on a variety of marine life.
The panel headed by Deepak Arun Apte noted that the area is already under stress due to the construction of Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) and Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) and other ongoing projects.
Part of the Railway Ministry’s “Indian Railway Vision 2020” that aims at modernisation of the existing conventional lines, enhancing capacity and developing high speed railway lines, the Bullet train project involves a dedicated track of about 508 kilometres including 155.6 kms in Maharashtra, 348.2 kms in Gujarat and 4.3 kms in Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The high-speed train corridor was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Ahmedabad in September, 2017. It is expected to be ready by 2022.
The EAC refused to give in to the NHSRC contention that “there are no studies known and is not possible to predict the impact of vibrations till the work starts.”
The Committee also observed that the conservation and management plan for Thane Creek Flamingo prepared by Zoological Survey of India is inadequate to highlight the impact of vibration on mudflats and flamingoes. It requires major revision, it noted even as it appreciated the project proponent move to take tunnel route to avoid direct destruction of mudflat or mangrove in the Thane Creek region. However, it disagreed their view that “impacts cannot be studied”.
