Now Reading: MoEFCC approves 939 hectares forest land for Nar Par Girna link
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MoEFCC approves 939 hectares forest land for Nar Par Girna link
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change's empowered committee has approved the diversion of 939.07 hectares of forest land for the Nar Par Girna River Link Project in Maharashtra. The project…
The Story in Brief
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change's empowered committee has approved the diversion of 939.07 hectares of forest land for the Nar Par Girna River Link Project in Maharashtra. The project requires 3,801.17 hectares of land in total, including private and government land, and will affect about 2,580 people across nine villages, with 516 houses impacted. The estimated cost is Rs 7,465.29 crore for three links, nine dams, and associated infrastructure.
The project proponent claims it will provide assured irrigation to 49,516 hectares in Nashik and Jalgaon districts, improve groundwater recharge, and generate employment. Three rivers, Nar, Par, and Auranga, flow in an easterly direction through the area. The environmental management cost is yet to be finalised during the Environmental Impact Assessment.
The Indian Opinion
The Nar Par Girna link is being sold as a cure for water scarcity, but the cost in displacement and forest loss is steep. On one side, boosters ignore that 2,580 people and 516 houses will be uprooted; on the other, blanket opposition to all river-linking ignores the real drought in Jalgaon's rain-shadow villages. The real test will be the final EIA's rehabilitation plan: will compensation match the law, and will promised irrigation actually reach farmers rather than just agribusiness? Watch whether the affected families get a meaningful say before ground is broken.
Source: newindianexpress.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
