Wildlife Board gives nod to double railway track through Western Ghats

Environment

Activists said that the project would result in several trees being felled and would also disturb the habitat.

Treesa John

Representational image

Amidst massive protests in Goa against the doubling of a railway track in the Western Ghats, the Indian government on Wednesday announced that it was going ahead with the project. Taking to Twitter, Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Prakash Javadekar announced the National Board for Wildlife’s (NBWL) approval to the Tinaighat-Castlerock-Caranzol railway doubling project proposed by South Western Railways (SWR). Activists had earlier said that the project would result in several trees being felled and disturb the habitat in the ghats.   “Happy to inform that in its 60th meeting, NBWL has recommended the proposal for Tinaighat-Castlerock-Caranzol railway doubling of South Western Railways, Karnataka with certain mitigation measures as advised by the Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun,” Javadekar said.  According to a note by the SWR, the single line between Hospet in Karnataka and Vasco da Gama in Goa was built in 1900 and connects industrial areas in Hospet and Marmugao port in Goa, besides various other tourist destinations in the two states. The SWR said that the line had become saturated due to accelerated industrial growth and an increased influx of tourists.  The site inspection report by the Forest Department, stating the purpose of such a project, said, “The doubling is proposed to transport coal and also in the interest of tourists to visit Goa”.  The report also outlined that the “proposed area falls under the Castle Rock Wildlife Range which is part of Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary and which is under the administrative control of Kali Tiger Reserve.”  The area is inhabited by tigers, leopards, black panthers, gaur, sambar deers, chital, wild boars, reptiles, amphibians and a variety of birds. It is also endemic to the castle rock night frog (Nyctibatrachus petraeus), the report said.  Activists who have been opposing the project pointed to the site inspection report, which said that 5,413 trees were marked for felling for the proposed project in Kali Tiger Reserve alone. Speaking to TNM on Thursday afternoon, wildlife activist Joseph Hoover said, “The project will disturb the entire habitat (in the ghats). Already, we have lost three gaur and two sambar deers recently due to the single rail line in Tinaighat.”  “The double rail project which passes through ecologically sensitive areas goes entirely against the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and Biological Diversity Act 2002 among others,” Joseph said, adding, “This could have been avoided.”

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Six crows die in Karnataka, samples sent for testing avian influenza

Bird Flu

Karnataka State Health and Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar has advised people to take precautions and not to panic.

TNM Staff

Image for representation purpose only.(PTI)

In the wake of a new strain of avian influenza being reported in India, six crows were found dead in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district. Samples have been sent in order to identify whether or not the birds died of the virus. The districts in Karnataka bordering Kerala, where bird flu cases were first reported in the south, are on alert.  According to reports, the state Animal Husbandry Department has issued a general alert to all District Collectors. Dakshina Kannada, Mysuru, Madikeri and Udupi districts are on high alert after birds in Alappuzha and Kottayam districts in the neighbouring Kerala were declared to have been affected with the H5N8 strain of bird flu. Officials have directed for the culling of over 69,000 domestic birds in Kerala districts, and according to reports, over 17000 ducks have died. Besides Karnataka, Tamil Nadu has constituted guidelines to contain the spread of the virus. Meanwhile, Karnataka State Health and Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said that there is no need to panic regarding the bird flu, but precautions must be observed. Addressing the media, he said "Six crows have died in Dakshina Kannada district and samples are sent for testing. Precautionary measures have been taken in border districts to prevent the bird flu. We should not spread unnecessary panic as lakhs of students are attending schools. Government has taken all safety measures.” A three-member team of experts from the Union Health Ministry has visited the two districts in Kerala, to study the possible mutation of the virus and potential risk for humans. The team consists of experts from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the National Institute of Virology. The Union government has identified as many as 12 epicentres of the bird flu across the country. Besides Kerala, cases have been reported from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.  Though several reports claim the virus has made inroads into the country through the migratory birds, official confirmation from the concerned bodies is yet to come. 

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Indian racer CS Santosh in medically-induced coma after crash in Dakar Rally

Sport

Santosh, who hails from Bengaluru, was representing Hero MotoSports in the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia.

PTI

CS Santosh

Renowned Indian motorcycle racer CS Santosh suffered a crash during the ongoing Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia and was put in a medically-induced coma after being airlifted to a hospital in Riyadh. The 37-year-old Santosh, who hails from Bengaluru, was representing Hero MotoSports in one of the world's biggest rallies, crashed on Wednesday and is being kept under a 24-hour observation. "In an unfortunate incident, @cs_santosh22 suffered a crash in Stage 4 of #Dakar2021 today. He has been taken to a hospital in Riyadh. In the initial assessment, he seems stable. Join us in wishing him a speedy recovery," Hero MotoSports said in a tweet. In an unfortunate incident, @cs_santosh22 suffered a crash in Stage 4 of #Dakar2021 today. He has been taken to a hospital in Riyadh. In the initial assessment, he seems stable. Join us in wishing him a speedy recovery. pic.twitter.com/ePbtRIsBcT — Hero MotoSports (@hero_motosports) January 6, 2021 He has a suspected head injury. According to reports, he was conscious when paramedics arrived on the scene before he was rushed to Riyadh. The incident occurred on the same stage where last year, Hero MotoSport rider Paulo Goncalves died while competing in the Dakar 2020. Hero MotoSport withdrew from the rally after the death of Goncalves. Santosh crashed around 135 km into the stage on a gravel track and had to forfeit the stage. This was Santosh's seventh attempt at the Dakar Rally, considered the world's most gruelling off-road motorsport event. He was the first Indian to complete the race in 2015, and replicated the effort in two further editions. Santosh had a near-fatal accident during the 2013 Abu Dhabi desert challenge, suffering burns to his neck after his Suzuki MX450X caught fire. The January 2-16 rally divided into 12 stages has competitors traversing 7646km. Stage 4 is, incidentally, the longest stage of the rally, spanning a total of 813km.

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IMD issues yellow alert to 7 K’taka districts, Bengaluru rainfall to continue

Weather

Bengaluru and many places over north-interior Karnataka will see rainfall until January 11 due to prevalent easterly winds, the IMD said.

TNM Staff

Representational image

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that heavy rain and thunderstorms with lightning are likely to occur in Karnataka for the next 24 hours. The storms will occur in all the coastal belt and ghat districts of south-interior Karnataka. Bengaluru and many places over north-interior Karnataka will also see rainfall till January 11 due to prevalent easterly winds, the IMD said.  In light of this, a yellow alert has been issued in districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Hassan, Kodagu and Chikkamgaluru and Shivamogga for January 8 and 9. On Wednesday, four stations in coastal Karnataka and five stations in south-interior Karnataka recorded heavy rainfall as well.  Meanwhile, rains will continue in Bengaluru till January 11, keeping the weather gloomy and overcast. The intensity of the rain will remain between light and moderate with most parts of the city expected to receive showers. The city recorded unexpected rains on Wednesday, due to the same weather phenomenon. Manoj Rajan, Special Commissioner for Disaster Management, said, “Under the influence of wind continuity, a trough at low-level easterlies over Karnataka state and due to cyclonic circulation, a trough over the central part of Arabian sea and southern part of Bay of Bengal have formed. As a result of this, most districts of Karnataka are very likely to receive fairly widespread light to moderate rains; and at isolated places, heavy to very heavy rains associated with thunder activity during the next 48 hours.”  He added, “Mainly Malnad and coastal districts are very likely to receive widespread moderate, with heavy to very heavy rains in isolated places. South and north-interior Karnataka districts are likely to receive scattered to widespread, with light to moderate rains, and heavy rains associated with thunder activity at a few places today and tomorrow.”

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Bengaluru airport train schedule revised, Railways hopes to resolve teething problems

Transport

The airport link train service, with tickets priced at Rs 10, was launched in Bengaluru on Monday.

Prajwal Bhat

Bengaluru airport halt station

The South Western Railways (SWR) revised its schedule for the newly launched suburban train from Bengaluru to the Kempegowda International Airport after reports of delays in the train service on the first day on Monday. The revision was necessitated after it emerged there were two trains clashing in a single line section between Yelahanka and Devanahalli around 6.30 pm. This reporter travelled in the train to the airport at 5.55 pm on Monday and it reached the airport at 7.12 pm, 22 minutes later than the scheduled arrival time of 6.50 pm. The train from the airport halt station to the city at 6.43 pm was more than an hour late. TNM had earlier reported that a 24-km stretch of rail line between Yehalanka and Devanahalli is a single track. This means that trains can only go once every 30 minutes in either direction and the airport halt station lies in this stretch.   The revised schedule however, did not solve the issue completely. One of the trains from the airport to the city now takes 2 hours and 20 minutes, more than an hour longer than the normal time taken for this distance.  Revised schedule of airport link train #06280 The airport link train service, with tickets priced at Rs 10, was launched amid fanfare on Monday. Five trains are now plying between the city and the airport offering residents in Bengaluru an option to reach the airport paying nominal prices. A free shuttle bus service takes travellers to and from the airport to the airport halt railway station located near the boundary of the airport. The Bengaluru International Airport is around 35 km from the city centre   In addition to the scheduling issue, a signal error compounded problems with the service on Monday. Responding to queries about the delays, South Western Railways (SWR) public relations officer E Vijaya told TNM that there was a signal failure at the Byappanahalli Route Relay Interlocking (RRI), which led to a few trains getting delayed. "There was a signalling failure in the evening at the Baiyappanahalli RRI around 5.40 pm which is the evening peak time. Trains which were crossing were delayed," Vijaya told TNM. Schedule of trains to airport compiled by Rajkumar Dugar She added that on Tuesday, only one of the airport trains was delayed by 11 minutes. "We are working to get the delays down to the single digit. Unless there is an unexpected failure, the delays will be minimal going forward and we aim to maintain punctuality on the airport train," Vijaya said. The Railways is looking at ways to improve the time taken to reach the airport from the city. "We are looking to reduce it by a further 20 minutes by looking into the number of stops there are along the way. We encourage Bengaluru citizens to try this cheaper, safer and eco-friendly transport," Vijaya said. Activists have suggested that the Railways take up doubling work or build a crossing station at Doddajala at the cost of Rs 10 crore. "We are also planning to do electrification of the line and for doubling work to be taken up. This will take time," Vijaya added. According to officials at the Bengaluru International Airport, the daily traffic at the airport is currently around 30,000. The five trains plying to and from the airport can transport around 3500 commuters everyday and activists said that the railways should aim to increase this number. Read: From Bengaluru to the airport for Rs 10: Why new train service is a game changer Read: From Bengaluru to the airport for Rs 10: Why new train service is a game changer

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Video: Leopard takes a walk in medical college quarters in Karnataka

The incident occurred at the Chamarajanagar Institute of Medical Sciences and was caught on CCTV.

TNM Staff

A leopard entered the Chamarajanagar Institute of Medical Sciences (CIMS) doctors’ quarters in Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka on Wednesday. CCTV footage showed the leopard entering the doctors’ quarters on campus around 9:30 pm. In the video, the leopard is seen running through a corridor, turning back and looking into a room before exiting the corridor again.  Dr GM Sanjeev, Dean and Director of CIMS, told TNM that the doctors’ quarters is close to the college campus in Yadapura village. He denied that the leopard was near the hospital, stating that the main hospital building is 8 km away in Chamarajanagara town. “The doctors’ quarters is located next to forest land and it is common to sight leopards in the area. This time the leopard entered the doctors quarters briefly for a minute. It was caught on the CCTV. There was no issue caused by this,” Dr Sanjeev said. According to Dr Sanjeev, leopard sightings in the quarters are not uncommon. Incidents of sightings have been reported a few times in the past as well. CIMS is affiliated with the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) and admits 150 medical students every year. It maintains a 300-bed district hospital at B Rachaiah Double Road in Chamarajanagara town. The institute was started by the Karnataka government and it was registered in the year 2013.  In 2019, a video of a leopard trying to sink its teeth into a porcupine near Chamarajanagar had gone viral. The incident happened at the Chamarajanagar-Satymangalamroad, which comes under the Biligiriranga Hills Tiger Reserve (BRT). A few travellers going down the road late at night captured the video, which showed the leopard trying to bite the porcupine, and the porcupine spreading its quills and deflecting the leopard’s attacks. 

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Bengaluru metro: Yelanchelli-Anjanapura route likely to open from Jan 15

Transport

The extension will connect the far end of the southeastern part of the city to the northern tip.

Soumya Chatterjee

he long-awaited Namma Metro line between Yelachenalli and Anjanapura in Bengaluru will be inaugurated by Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa at Konanakunte cross station on January 14, said Ajay Seth, Managing Director, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL). Along with Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh will take part in the ceremony scheduled at 4.30 pm, through video conferencing. Metro train services on the 6.29 km line between Yelanchelli and Anjanapura are likely to commence from January 15, a day after its inauguration. The metro rail extension is the first project under Phase 2 of the Namma Metro Project in Bengaluru, which was commissioned after multiple delays. The Commissioner of Railway Safety had given clearance for the Yelanchelli- Anjanapura project two months ago while laying down several conditions. At present, the metro has two lines —- the Purple Line between Baiyyappanahalli and Mysore Road which runs for 18.08 km and the Green Line between Nagasandra and Yelachenahalli which spans 24.22 km. The 6.29 km metro line between Yelanchelli and Anjanapura is an elevated extension of the existing Green Line of Namma Metro. The stretch constitutes five metro stations —- Konanakunte Cross, Doddakallasandra, Vajrahalli, Thalaghattapura and Anjanapura. This connects the far end of the southeastern part of the city to the northern tip. Meanwhile, the BMRCL plans to commence metro train operations between Mysore Road-Kengeri in the Purple Line and Nagasandra-Bangalore International Exhibition Centre in the Green Line. To a question about possible requirements of additional trains for the new Yellanchelli-Anjanapura metro stretch and upcoming extensions, Seth told the Deccan Herald, “The train sets will be deployed as needed...More trains will be needed only when we commence Whitefield line."

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