Guwahati, July 13: The forest clearance for the 111.8km new broad gauge line between Agartala and Sabroom in Tripura will be delayed as the National Board for Wildlife is yet to be reconstituted.

Projects which are situated within 10km of a protected area have to take the clearance from the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife, a statutory body under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

The wildlife board is headed by the Prime Minister.

Sources said the tenure of the last board lapsed in September 2013 and the government has to reconstitute a new wildlife board without which projects cannot get clearance.

The Tripura government will have to take clearance from National Board for Wildlife for construction of a new broad gauge line between Agartala and Sabroom by Northeast Frontier Railway that passes through Trishna wildlife sanctuary which is reported to have the highest number of primates in a protected area.

Altogether 172.856 hectares of forest land will have to be diverted for construction of the new broad gauge line between Agartala and Sabroom under Udaipur and Bagafa forest divisions and Trishna wildlife sanctuary by the NF Railway. The total cost of the project is approximately Rs 1141.76 crore and the date of commissioning is 2015.

The proposal was submitted to the Centre by Tripura in February, 2013. The project description shows that the length of the proposed railway line is 111.8km which passes through Udaipur and Bagafa forest divisions and Trishna wildlife sanctuary.

It is a strategic project connecting Agartala to the border town of Sabroom and has been declared a national project.

A total of 5,656 trees will have to be uprooted for the project.

The Tripura forest department has requested the forest advisory committee under the ministry of environment and forests to process the clearance for the area outside the sanctuary.

“We would like to state that work will not be started in and around 2km of the wildlife area without the approval of the National Board for Wildlife. Since it is a national project, the railway is pressing hard for clearance. I would, therefore, request you please consider the case and start processing the forestry clearance for the area outside the wildlife sanctuary,” the department said.

The project is coming up for discussion at the next meeting of the committee on July 17-18.

This will be the last meeting of the present committee which has a tenure of three years.

The proposal falling inside Trishna wildlife sanctuary was considered by the standing committee of National Board for Wildlife at its 30th meeting held in September last year and the committee noted that Trishna sanctuary has more primates than any other protected area in the country.

After a thorough discussion on the proposal, the committee recommended that a site visit of the area may be conducted by experts who will submit a report.

Sources said inspection has been conducted by the members, a report has been submitted and it will be considered by the standing committee of National Board for Wildlife.