Scrap Kalu dam project, says advisory panel

A Forest Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) has stated that the state government project to build a dam on river Kalu in Thane district should be scrapped.

The Bombay high court had asked the committee to submit its report/suggestions/recommendations about the dam to the central government.

A division bench of Justice DD Sinha and Justice VK Tahilramani has given six weeks to the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) to decide on the state government’s proposal, seeking the use of non-forest land for building the dam. However, the state can make necessary efforts to ensure the compilation of the formalities sought by the ministry.

In March, the Bombay high court stayed the construction of the dam because the state government had not obtained necessary permissions from the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF).

The report states: "The project area is under the ecologically sensitive zone of the Western Ghats and also involves rehabilitation of villages. The rehabilitation plan, environment impact assessment report, technical report on wildlife status and management, gram sabha resolution for the forest dweller who have been granted rights under the Schedule Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers act have not been furnished. The FAC recommends to close this case."

On Thursday, the court directed the state and the private construction company to follow its earlier order and dissuaded them from carrying out any construction work.

The court was hearing a petition by Shramik Mukhti Sanghatana, an NGO, alleging that the dam is being built without the required permissions from the forest department.

On June 5 last year, DNA had first reported how the dam, if built, would submerge an area of 2,100 hectares, including around 1,000 hectares of dense forest and displace four villages.

The state government, in its affidavit, had admitted that work on Kalu dam in Murbad began in October 2010, without securing permission from the Centre and MoEF. The MoEF had inspected the site and the report submitted by the chief conservator of forest said the construction should be stayed as the state government had not got the necessary permission.

The state said that as per a resolution passed on July 9, 2009, it was granted an approval for building the dam. The Sanghatana argued that it was only after it moved the court, did the state seek necessary permission.