Banda village (Sindhudurg): Around 7,000 trees across 32 acres (think 1.5 times the size of Oval Maidan in south Mumbai) of forest land have been cut down in an eco-sensitive zone of the Western Ghats between December 2013 and January 2014 to make way for a toll plaza on NH-17. If built, it will involve the flattening of hills on either side of a road. The issue is currently in appeal in the Bombay high court.

The area, which falls within Banda village on the Mumbai-Goa highway, is a stone's throw from the Maharashtra-Goa border. A cursory glance at a map shows that the area is unsuitable for a toll booth as several roads around it can help bypass the spot.

A high court petition against the project claimed mining is the real reason why the government wants to acquire the 1.3 lakh sq m land. A 2010 note by Maharashtra's Directorate of Geology and Mines said: "It is expected that the project area may incorporate substantial quantity of iron ore, so no-objection certificate may not be given to RTO (to build the toll booth)." Several other objections, including by government officials, have been made, but been brushed aside.

Banda village was never a part of the original plan for the toll booth. Villagers say the area is also an elephant corridor. Moreover, it is now among the villages on the list of eco-sensitive areas declared by the ministry of environment and forests in a November 2013 directive. Activities such as quarrying, mining and building and construction projects on 20,000 sq m and above are not allowed in such areas.

But a month later, in December 2013, the tree authority of the Sawantwadi forest department allowed 1,279 trees to be cleared in the area on the grounds that no part of Sindhudurg district had been declared eco-sensitive. In a matter of days, the area was shorn of trees. Now the same tree authority has said that while permission was given to cut 1,279 trees, Maharashtra's border check-post authorities had cut an additional 5,429.

The toll booth is part of a 2008 proposal by the Maharashtra State Road Development Cooperation (MSRDC) for the modernization and computerization of 22 toll booths. The original proposal talks only about Insuli village. Till today, the MSRDC website shows Insuli as the spot for the proposed toll booth. Banda cropped up in a handwritten MSRDC note which called for a study of the costs and benefits of both Insuli and Banda for the toll booth. No mention was made of the fact that more roads from Goa to Mumbai bypass Banda than Insuli. Incidentally, there is already a checkpost at Insuli.

The divisional commissioner for the Konkan region, in a letter dated June 20, 2012, had raised several issues over violations in the process of land acquisition for the project.

Further, villagers from Banda who lost their land for the proposed toll booth have shown, in their petition to the high court, the area falls under the command area of the Tilari-Banda canal. According to the Maharashtra Irrigation Act, no quarrying or mining using explosives is allowed within 200m of a canal boundary. The irrigation department, in response to an RTI application filed by Saiprasad Kalyankar, a chartered accountant from the village and one of those affected by the project, says it has not given the government any permission for blasting or quarrying in the area.

The villagers battling the project have pointed out in court that a report on the site by a land acquisition officer in 2009 was fraudulent, did not mention the canal, and was made without a site visit. The high court, in an order dated April 5, 2013, ruled against the villagers. "The objection that a false report was submitted without actually carrying out inspection does not render the acquisition illegal," the court said, adding, "Merely because certain queries were made by the Divisional Commissioner, the acquisition does not become illegal."

When contacted, MSRDC MD Bipin Shrimali said the site was identified by the transport department and land acquisition done by the revenue department. "I cannot comment on this particular spot. However, when it comes to cutting trees, this is always done with the approval of the competent authority," he adds.

