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CEC to hear apex tiger authority's response on plea against Ken-Betwa link

NTCA is one of the respondents to the petition before the CEC and its submissions would be crucial because it had pointed out in the past the potential damage the river linking project could have on Panna's tiger habitat.

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In a test for the Centre's Ken Betwa river link project that will submerge 100 sq km forest land in and around Panna Tiger Reserve, the Supreme Court's Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has called the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) for a hearing as it is examining a petition seeking quashing of the wildlife clearance granted to the project. NTCA is one of the respondents to the petition before the CEC and its submissions would be crucial because it had pointed out in the past the potential damage the river linking project could have on Panna's tiger habitat.

The petition before the CEC alleged that the clearance of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife for the project is illegal and contrary to the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The plea pointed out that there would be direct destruction of 58.03 sq.kms of critical tiger habitat of the Panna Tiger Reserve due to submergence and a loss of another 105.23 sq.km due to fragmentation.

The plea added that as per the Wildlife Protection Act, NBWL cannot grant clearances to projects that were not for improvement, better management or benefit of wildlife.

The river linking project is one of the 30 such projects planned by the NDA-led central government and also it's most ambitious. As part of the project, a 77m high and 2,031m long composite dam would be built on the Ken River in Daudhan village, situated in the heart of Panna Tiger Reserve. The project's proposed benefit is irrigation for 6.35 lakh hectares of the area for the Bundelkhand region across Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Ken River's water would be transferred to the Betwa river basin through a 221-km long canal.

An expert committee that was constituted by NBWL had raised concerns on the impacts of the dam, its construction and the canal on wildlife movement and impacts of submergence on tigers, leopards and vulture breeding sites.
While the project was granted wildlife clearance in the NBWL's meeting on September 19, 2016, it received a nod for forest clearance and environmental clearance in 2017. However, not much has moved on the ground as Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have been unable to resolve their differences over issues of water sharing. The Centre also had to accommodate MP's demands to club Phase-II components of the project with Phase-I and this has now escalated the project cost to Rs.23,000 crore.

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