MoEF lifts moratorium on projects in areas of Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg

Ajay Tyagi, joint secretary, MoEF, said, “The 986 villages at Ratnagiri (653) and Sindhurdurg (333) where the moratorium has been lifted are in the non-ESA areas of the Western Ghats and are not villages falling under ESAs as mentioned in the Kasturirangan report.

The moratorium is still applicable to the villages identified as ESAs and the villages that are part of the PIL.”

The moratorium would continue in the 25 villages in Sawantwadi, Dodamarg and Banda talukas of Sindhudurg districts, which find mention in the PIL seeking declaration of Sawantwadi-Dodamarg corridor in Sindhudurg district as an ecologically sensitive area, the memorandum states.

The MoEF decision came after the Maharashta government argued that the moratorium should be restricted only to the villages of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts in the ESA as identified by the High Level Working Group on Western Ghats led by Dr K Kasturirangan.

Resident docs to go on strike from today

Around 4,000 resident doctors in the state will go on indefinite strike from Saturday following failure of their talks with the state government regarding improvement in “bond service” conditions. “We have been in regular contact with the government. But so far, there has been no action,” said Dr Santosh Wakchaure, president of Medical Association of Resident Doctors.     ENS