Lok Sabha Question No. 5357 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-25
Subject: Loss of Forest Land due to GTTPL
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: Sunil Dattatray Tatkare

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.5357 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.07.2019

## LOSS OF FOREST LAND DUE TO GTTPL

## 5357. SHRI SUNIL DATTATRAY TATKARE:

Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  177  hectares  of  forest  land  will  be  lost/wiped  out  for  a  proposed transmission  line  project  to  be  taken  up  by  the  Goa-Tamnar  Transmission  Project Limited (GTTPL) and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the  details  of  the  immediate  and  long  term  negative  impacts  on  both  the ecological  and  social  system  as  reported  by  Environmental  Impact  Assessment(EIA) observations/study;
- (c) the steps taken by the Government for alternative and realignment of the project; and
- (d) if  not, the mitigation measures considered and implemented by the Government for the purpose?

## A N S W E R

THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MINISTER OF STATE FOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT & ENTREPRENEURSHIP

( SHRI  R.K. SINGH)

(a) & (b) : M/s  Goa-Tamnar  Transmission  Project  Limited  (GTTPL)  is  an  Inter  State Transmission  System  (ISTS)  licensee  which  is  implementing  the  scheme  'Additional 400  kV  Feed  to  Goa  and  Additional  System  for  Power  Evacuation  from  Generation Projects pooled at Raigarh (Tamnar) Pool' awarded through Tariff Based Competitive Bidding. As per the information from M/s GTTPL, the area affected for the purpose of forest  diversion  by  this  project  would  be  around  177  hectares.    However,  the  actual affected  area  which  will  be  used  for  tree  felling  and  execution  of  work  will  be  only 23.098  hectares.  This  affected  area  will  also  be  compensated  with  the  provision  of dwarf/medicinal plants below the conductor.  In addition, for requisite clearance under the  Forest  Conservation  Act,  1980,  the  project  developer  has  to  do  Compensatory Afforestation in double the area, i.e. 354 hectares against the proposed diversion of 177 hectares of forest land. This plantation will be done and maintained for 10 years by the project developer.

………2.

The  impact  of  transmission  lines  on  the  ecological  and  social  system  is minimal.    Therefore,  in  accordance  with  the  Ministry  of  Environment  and  Forests, Government of India's EIA Notification 2006, transmission line projects are not required to  undertake  Environment  Impact  Assessment  (EIA).  However,  necessary  clearance under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 has to be obtained, when the transmission line passes through forest area.

(c) & (d) : M/s GTTPL had submitted 3 alternate routes for the above overhead lines along with application for grant of authorization under section 164 of Electricity Act, 2003.  Authorization  has  been  granted  for  the  route  involving  minimum  forest  and protected areas.

As a mitigation measure, following have been taken into account:

- (1) Compensatory Afforestation (CA) as per the guidelines MoEFCC.
- (2) Selection of route involving minimum forest and protected areas.
- (3) To reduce the impact further, the already existing defunct 110 kV line route has been considered for the alignment of above line.

************