Bhimgad declared Wildlife sanctury ,Mhadei to be scrutinised : Jayram to Shantaram

Union Minister of State for Environment and Forest informed Mr Shantaram Naik, during question hour, in the Rajya Sabha,today, in response to his supplementary, through which, Mr Naik sought to know whether in view of the Karnataka Government declaring Bhimgad as a wildlife sanctuary which is not very far away from the project, whether the Minister take necessary action under the Environment Protection Act to see that this project, which otherwise is illegal, is not continued, that “our policy is that any time any project which comes to us for approval, which is in the vicinity of an ecological sensitive area or a wildlife sanctuary, we look at it according to the rules and regulations of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, and I am sure, the Mahadai Project also will be no exception in this regard.

As per the information received, the State Government of Karnataka has issued notification dated 3rd February,2010 under section 18 of Wildlife (Protection) Act,1972 constituting Bhimgad forest as a Wildlife Sanctuary, which covers an area of about 13,000 hectares in Belgaon district, Mr Ramesh said.

In reply to another supplementary of Mr Naik whether the Karnataka Government had taken permission under Environment Protection Act before the construction of the project Mr Ramesh said, "I do not want to get into the legality or illegality of this Mahadai Project. I understand that a Tribunal is being set up by the Central Government on this issue. The question is limited to the wildlife sanctuary."