The Supreme Court has refused to pass an order on the Goa government's plea that the construction of the Mahadayi project would destroy large-scale forest and wildlife in the Western Ghat region.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and M M Sundresh said that since the matter is pending consideration of the Chief Wildlife Warden, at this juncture, there was no need to comment on the issue.
"It is brought to our notice that the issue of whether permission under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 is required, is sub judice and pending
consideration of the Chief Wildlife Warden under Section 29 of the said Act. It appears that in this regard there may be variation in the stand of the State of Karnataka and the State of Goa. We need not, at this stage, comment on the said issue, as the question is pending before the Chief Wildlife Warden," the bench said.
However, the court also allowed both Karnataka and Goa to file fresh applications before the court if required.
In its written order, the court noted Karnataka would upload revised the Detailed Project Report (DPR) in the Department of Water Resources website.
The court also said, before going ahead with the Project, Karnataka has to take all statutory approvals for the project.
Earlier, the Goa Government filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking to restrain Karnataka from constructing the project as per the approval given by the Central Water Commission (CWC). Goa said that starting of the construction would lead to the destruction of large-scale forests in biodiversity-rich Western Ghats in the Karnataka-Goa border area.
Karnataka, which had received approval from the CWC for the project, had approached the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests for getting a green nod.