Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday again defended three controversial infrastructure projects in his state that have had environmentalists up in arms while telling his Delhi counterpart, Arvind Kejriwal that he did not need his advice on the matter.
The two leaders exchanged sharp words on the issue for a second day on Twitter on Thursday.
There have been midnight protests against the double-tracking of a railway line from Goa to Karnataka as well as a highway expansion and a proposed power transmission line project that will pass through Goa’s oldest wildlife sanctuary, the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary in Mollem and Mollem National Park.
The projects will cost 170 hectares of forest land and around 55,000 trees. Activists fear the projects will destroy the sanctuary and the pristine Western Ghats ecosystem that it was designed to protect. They say the railway track was being doubled to expand the coal-carrying capacity from Goa’s Mormugao Port to north Karnataka. The railways and Sawant have allayed the fears saying nothing like this was being planned.
“Doubling of Railway tracks is a nation building exercise. There is no threat to Mollem [Wildlife Sanctuary] & we will ensure it remains that way. We will not allow Goa to become [a] coal hub. Knowing your expertise in creating Center vs State issues, we will skip your advice,” Sawant said in a tweet.
Kejriwal responded saying Sawant should listen to Goa’s people. “@DrPramodPSawant ji, you don’t need to listen to my advice but please listen to the voices of Goans. Shouldn’t Goans have some say in their own state? Is Central diktat more important than Goan voices?”
Kejriwal earlier suggested the Centre was “forcing this project on Goa”, which prompted Sawant’s response.
“Dear CM @ArvindKejriwal ji, we are making sure that there is no pollution issue in Goa and our Govt will ensure that our state remains pollution free. I am sure the people of Delhi also want the same in their beautiful state,” Sawant said.
Kejriwal earlier said Goans were opposing the railway double-tracking project. “Kindly hear their voice n #savemollem as they are lungs of Goa. I understand [the] Centre is forcing this project on Goa. Pl stand wid (with) Goans, say NO 2 centre n save Goa from becoming coal hub.”
Kejriwal said it is not about Delhi’s pollution vs Goa’s. “Both Delhi and Goa are dear to me. We are all one country. We all have to work together to ensure there is no pollution in both Delhi and Goa,” said Kejriwal.
Sawant was earlier quoted as saying that Kejriwal should look after his own state.
On Wednesday, Sawant separately said the highest amount of coal was handled in 2017 when 14 million tons of coal was imported, which has since come down to around 9-10 million tons. “I have discussed this with the Union shipping minister that it should be further reduced. We will not cross those high levels again,” Sawant said.
