Decision deferred as concerns raised over Jambughoda Sanctuary

“GMDC says there used to be a manganese mine near the present border of Jambughoda Sanctuary around 100 years ago and that manganese dump lying at the site needs to be removed. Some Board members asked how it was possible that the so-called dump of the mineral would be there in the form of a dump 100 years later. The members observed that allowing GMDC to remove the so-called dump would amount to allowing GMDC to mine manganese from land located just 50 metres to 350 metres from the border of the sanctuary,” a person who was present at the meeting told The Indian Express, seeking anonymity.

Some Board members were also said to have highlighted the GSBWL had already given the GMDC a green signal in 2015 for removing manganese from 64 hectares of 211.73 hectares area along the sanctuary’s border.

“A few Board members said that consequent to the GSBWL’s clearance in 2015, a two-member expert team of the central government had visited the site and eventually, the central government too had approved the proposal. But the clearance for 64 hectares should be considered final and any similar activity right along the border of the sanctuary would be detrimental to wildlife and environment,” the person further said.

Following objections, the Chief Minister, who is the ex-officio chairman of the GSWBL, asked the Board to keep the proposal on hold.

“The chairman observed that the matter needs further examination before a decision can be taken on it, especially what GMDC did between 2015 and 2023,” a board member said, requesting anonymity, adding, “Since the chairman suggested to differ a decision on fresh GMDC proposal, minor details of the proposal like how much more land GMDC is seeking etc were not discussed.”

An undertaking of the state government, GMDC is a mining and mineral processing company.

Spread over 130.38 square kilometres (100 hectares make one square km), the Jambughoda Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected dry, deciduous forest that is home to endangered sloth bears as well as leopards and scores of other mammals and birds.

Some board members also objected to the Bhavnagar divisional railway issuing tenders recently for converting Junagadh-Visavadar railway line into a broad gauge line though the matter was not on the agenda of the meeting.

“We have taken note of media reports of the railway floating tenders for gauge conversion without requisite permission from the forest department and some members raised the matter. The CM heard opinions on the matter patiently,” said a member.

Mashooq Ahmed, senior divisional commercial manager of the Bhavnagar divisional railway of Western Railway, said the gauge conversion project doesn’t involve any forest land hence no permission was retendered. “The railway track of Junagadh-Visavadar railway line doesn’t pass through any protected area and therefore wildlife clearance is not needed for gauge conversion,” the officer said, adding, that the project was rendered a few weeks ago and that bids are scheduled to be opened next month.

However, forest officers said that they would hold a meeting with the officers of the Bhavnagar divisional railway over the issue.

“It appears that the railway thinks that no wildlife clearance is required since the railway line in question doesn’t pass through any protected forest area whereas our field staff says that the railway line passes through a stretch of a protected area. Therefore, we will hold a meeting with the railway officers, ask them to show their map of the alignment of the track and we will show them our maps of the same to resolve the issue,” the officer said, adding,  “As ESZ of Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary has not been notified, the default ESZ, as per the Supreme Court order, extends up to 10 km from the border of a sanctuary. Maybe the railway officers are not aware of this provision.”

An official release from the state government stated that the Board gave its green signal to a new broad gauge railway line called Taranga Hill-Ambaji, Abu Road line, which will pass through the ESZ of Balaram-Ambaji sanctuary even as CM instructed that thorough studies be conducted for while assessing the environmental impact of projects like railway lines, underground pipelines, optical fibre cables etc passing through sanctuaries.

Forest and Environment and Climate Change Minister Mulu Bera, Minister of State for Forest and Environment, Mukesh Patel, and Chief Secretary Raj Kumar were also present at the meeting.