New Delhi: Much to the relief of green
groups, the Environment Ministry has rejected the proposal for
a port in Poshitra in Gujarat citing possible destruction of
crucial marine bio-diversity in the Gulf of Kutch.
"The National Board of Wildlife in its meeting yesterday
has shot down the major proposal of Poshitra port in Gujarat
as it would devastate fragile marine eco-system in the Gulf of
Kutch," Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, who chairs the
Board, said.
Asserting that the rejection was based on the ground
realities, Ramesh said that his Ministry was not a "rubber
stamp" and the approval was given only when there was
overwhelming requirement.
Sources in the Board said that the minister had seriously
considered the views of wildlife experts such as M K
Ranjitsinh and Asad Rahmani who asserted that adjacent Marine
National Park at Jamnagar was highly important and the
proposed project threatens marine bio-diversity.
"It has rare species of corals, sponges, sea anemones,
etc. There are about 477 species of molluscs, out of which
about 170 are new. Endangered mammals like dugongs have also
been reported in the area," the experts had told the Minister.
Gujarat Positra Port Infrastructure, promoted by Sea King
Infrastructure Ltd, was supposed to develop the port along
with another private player.
The company had earlier developed the Pipavav port,
railway lines, integrated modern shipyards, roads and LNG
projects.
PTI
