Vedanta will have to seek permission from the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWW) of Goa if it wants to resume transportation of iron ore via the Kalay railway station.
The iron ore, being brought in rakes from Karnataka by Indian Railway, was being transported by a contractor to the Adrem jetty. However, villagers had complained about the pollution caused by the handling of this material and moved court and the National Green Tribunal to stop it sometime middle of last year.
More recently, the environmental group, Goa Foundation, chose to question how this had been allowed when neither the station master and Railways, nor Vedanta and its contractor had, as per the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, sought permission from the CWW.
Deciding this PIL, the High Court of Bombay at Goa, having directed the respondents to apply for permission, has asked the CWW to also hear the petitioner, ie, Goa Foundation and dispose of the applications within a month. If it consents to ore being transported on this route, the CWW must give the petitioner an additional two weeks before ore is handled. In the meanwhile, the 5 February order, allows Vedanta and its contractor to clear within a week the remaining 2,025 tonnes (t) of the 11,500 t that had arrived by rail.