Goa, Dec. 26 -- The National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) has granted conditional approval to the South Western Railway (SWR) to carry out iron ore handling operations at the Kalem railway yard located within the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and Mollem National Park.

The clearance, granted at a recent meeting of the NBWL, permits the use of around 0.76 hectares of forest land at Kalem for the loading, unloading and transportation of iron ore.

As part of the approval, SWR has been directed to submit annual compliance reports to the State Chief Wildlife Warden, who will forward them to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).

The conditions attached to the clearance require that the activity be carried ou...