Environment Ministry gets tough on Tata Camelot at Chandigarh

The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Main News
Chandigarh, February 26
The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has toughened its stand over granting clearance to the multi-tower high-rise Tata Camelot project proposed to come up next to the Sukhna Lake here.

For an environmental clearance now, the ministry has said, the project would require a go-ahead from the forestry and wildlife angle, including an okay from the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife.

Also, the MoEF has referred the case (for environmental clearance to the project) to the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Committee, Punjab. The move follows as Punjab reconstituted its committee by including new members and thus completing the requisite quorum for granting environmental clearances.

However, the MoEF has said that the state EIA committee may consider the inspection report prepared by a team of the ministry last month, and may consult the members of this inspection team before granting any clearance. Notably, the Tata Housing officials had earlier claimed that they had obtained all clearances from various departments.

Official sources said as the Camelot project site was only 123 metres (on the northern side and 183 metres on the eastern side) away from the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary, the project proponent (Tata Housing Development Company in this case) will require a prior green signal from the National Board for Wildlife -- chaired by the prime minister.

And as the Camelot project site is adjacent to the sanctuary, it is bound to create noise and air pollution in the area, besides resulting in heavy human habitation in the high-rise buildings. All these factors were likely to impact the sanctuary.

Based on The Tribune reports on how rules were bent by the Punjab Government for a go-ahead to the project, with 102 state politicians on board, the MoEF had ordered an inquiry into the housing venture. An inspection was conducted by a six-member MoEF team last month, which verified the distance of the project site from the sanctuary and also found that the Camelot site fell under the catchment area of the Sukhna Lake.

According to rules, for any project that is proposed within a distance of 10 km of a national park or wildlife sanctuary, a special condition is stipulated that the environmental clearance is subject to their obtaining prior clearance from the forestry and wildlife angle, including clearance from the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife. The rules also say that the grant of environment clearance does not necessarily imply that forestry and wildlife clearance shall be granted to the project. Their application for forestry and wildlife clearance would be considered as per merit.

These guidelines, which form part of the EIA Notification, 2006 (via office memorandum issued in 2009), also say that any investment made in the project, based on environmental clearance granted in anticipation of the clearance from forestry and wildlife angle, shall be entirely at the cost and risk of the project proponent and the MoEF shall not be responsible for this

Projects getting faster clearance in Jairam's tenure

Mail Today Science Bureau  | New Delhi, February 3, 2011 | 08:35

If you believe that Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh has made life difficult for industry and project promoters by making environmental clearances as a stumbling block, you may be in for a surprise. Projects during his tenure are getting cleared much faster and just a handful of them are rejected.

Environmental clearance for just six projects was rejected during August 2009 and July 2010, compared to 14 projects rejected during 2006-07 to 2007-08.

The conditional approval granted to the steel project of Korean giant Posco and to several such high-profile projects including the Navi Mumbai airport show that projects continue to be approved with the same speed even after July 2010. The mining project of Vedanta is the only notable rejection. Eight river valley hydro-electric projects were submitted for environment clearance and all were approved in the one-year period. As many as 49 thermal power projects were approved with just one rejection during 2009-10.

Of 120 projects under the category of 'infrastructure and miscellaneous projects' that came up for approval, 112 were approved and none was rejected. As many as 31 coal mining projects were approved with not a single one being rejected. Only two of 'new construction and industrial estates' projects were rejected.

In all, 769 projects were received and 535 were approved and six were rejected. The rest are pending for more information and queries.

The rate of approving projects during the tenure of Ramesh remains unhealthy, says the EIA Resource and Response Centre which obtained the data under RTI. "Despite the claim of greater scrutiny, projects continue to be approved and the rate of approval appears to be getting worse. If one compares with the data of approval from 2006 to 2008 it is clear that the rate of rejection and approval remains the same," said Ritwick Dutta of EIA centre.

In a move designed to facilitate faster clearances, Ramesh appointed power sector experts to key panels tasked with approval of power projects. Rakesh Nath, former chairman of the Central Electricity Authority, was made chairperson of the expert appraisal committee on river valley projects, while V. P. Raja, chairman of the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission, was appointed to head the expert appraisal committee on thermal power and coal mine projects. "How can a power regulatory body chief preside over environment clearance of power projects?" questions Dutta.

While projects are being approved with alacrity, Ramesh has closed all avenues for those who want to appeal against such approvals. He has dismantled the only existing grievance redressal mechanism that existed in the form of the National Environment Appellate Authority. The authority was wound up in October 2010 even before the National Green Tribunal, which was supposed to replace it, came into being. The tribunal has not been set up despite Parliament approving the law for its establishment. As a result, persons aggrieved by the grant of clearance have no statutory forum for appeal.

Dr Aziz Panel to visit Kolleru

Experts panel to visit Kolleru - Deccan Chronicle
September 17th, 2010
DC Correspondent
(http://www.deccanchronicle.com/rajahmundry/experts-panel-visit-kolleru-457)

Sept. 16: The expert panel on Kolleru led by Dr P.A. Aziz will be visiting the Kolleru lake from September 20 onwards for six days to elicit opinion on the living conditions of villagers and also the implications over proposed reduction of contour limits from the existing fifth to third by interacting with stakeholders, politicians and environmentalists.

The seven-member panel from the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore, will be arriving at Eluru on September 19 and will meet officials from revenue, irrigation, forests and tourism from both Krishna and West Godavari districts on September 20.

They will take up a field visit to some parts of the Kolleru area, interact with people and accept  representations.

On September 21, the panel will visit Gudivakalanka, Kolletikota, Agadala Lanka and Pothunuru, on September 22, Tokulapalli, Pedanindra Kolanu and Siddapuram villages and Gudipadu, Sriparru and Chinthapalli on September 23.

Later, the team will proceed to Bhujabalapatnam of Kaikalur mandal in Krishna district on September 24. On September 25, the panel will interact with elected representatives like MPs, MLAs, MLCs, ZPTCs and MPTCs at Eluru in the morning and meet officials from various departments in the evening. The panel is visiting the Kolleru lake at a time when there is hectic political lobbying favouring the delimitation of the Kolleru bird sanctuary.

The sanctuary is located over about 308.55 sq km at present and if there is any reduction in the third contour limits, nearly 135 sq km area, which comes upto nearly 42,000 acres, will be excluded from the sanctuary limits. The proposed move for delimitation of sanctuary size is aimed at votes of villagers who belong to the fishermen community.

The National Wildlife Board is learnt to have turned down the proposal on technical grounds. Meanwhile, the Kolleru Lake Development Society chairman, Dr Mente Padmanabham, the general secretary, Dr T. Patanjali Sastry, biologist Prof. B.V.Seshagiri Rao and others found fault with the proposal for delimitation. They fear that if this is accepted, it would result in setting up commercial fish ponds which would lead to an ecological disaster. They appealed to the Centre to maintain the status quo and asked for initiation of steps to conserve and protect the Kolleru lake which is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia.

They also asked government to provide alternate sources of livelihood and welfare schemes to the villagers.

No environment clearance: Notice to GMADA

No environment clearance: Notice to GMADA
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/No-environment-clearance--Notice-to-GMADA/679669

Jasneet Bindra Tags : GMADA, environment Posted: Thu Sep 09 2010, 23:12 hrs Chandigarh:

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, northern regional office, has issued a notice to the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) for not taking environment clearance for its Aerocity township, the draw of which is expected by the month-end.

In the letter to Balwinder Singh Multani, Additional Chief Administrator (ACA), GMADA, the ministry has said it has come to its notice that the authority has launched a mega township on 1,000 acres, and invited applications from the public for allotments of plots of different sizes for construction of residential units.

As per the new Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification, starting development of any township or group housing project without obtaining prior environmental clearance from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) or Union Ministry of Environment and Forests is a gross violation of the Environment Protection Act, 1986, and the EIA notification, the MoEF’s letter to GMADA stated