Tribunal asks govt. to explain steps taken to declare bird sanctuary as ESA The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has restrained the Southern Railway from carrying out any non-forest activities on its land adjoining the Mangalavanam bird sanctuary in the city, until further orders. The NGT directed the State government to file an affidavit explaining the steps taken by the government to declare the 2.7437 hectares of the sanctuary as Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA). Development projects The tribunal passed the order on a petition filed by the Lawyers Environmental Awareness Forum (LEAF) seeking to restrain the Railways from undertaking non-forest activities on its land near the bird sanctuary. It pointed out that the Railways was planning to carry out various development projects such as setting up a railway medical college, para medical College and suburban railway terminal at its property near the sanctuary. The tribunal pointed out that the Forest and Wildlife Department had declared Mangalavanam as a bird sanctuary through a notification issued on August 31, 2004, with the purpose of ‘protecting and propagating or developing wildlife and its environment.’ The notification includes the land of the Railways as well. When the State government had declared the land, including the Railways’ land, as part of the bird sanctuary, certainly the Railways could not carry on any non -forest activities on the land, the tribunal added. The State government submitted before the tribunal that the Forest Department had been taking all possible steps to protect the ecologically sensitive and specialised ecosystems. “The major objectives of the Ecologically Fragile Land Act was the conservation of biological diversity, ecosystems and natural habitats and the maintenance and recovery of viable population of species in their natural surroundings,” it said.