Kaleshwaram irrigation project got environmental clearance in violation of law: NGT

It also held that the decision for expansion taken by the Telangana government is without EC and not tenable. "We are unable to accept the stand of the project proponent that primarily the project is for water supply and water management and that irrigation is subsidiary or incidental part of the project so as to hold that no EC was required prior to execution of the project from 2008 to 2017," the bench said.


PTI | New Delhi | Updated: 20-10-2020 15:48 IST | Created: 20-10-2020 15:48 IST
Kaleshwaram irrigation project got environmental clearance in violation of law: NGT
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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) held on Tuesday that environmental clearance was granted to the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project in Telangana "ex post facto" in violation of legal requirements and formed a committee to assess the damage caused as also to suggest restoration measures. It directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to constitute the 7-member expert committee and suggest relief and rehabilitation measures to be adopted.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said the stand that the project executed prior to the grant of environmental clearance (EC) is unrelated to irrigation is "patently untenable". It also held that the decision for expansion taken by the Telangana government is without EC and not tenable.

"We are unable to accept the stand of the project proponent that primarily the project is for water supply and water management and that irrigation is subsidiary or incidental part of the project so as to hold that no EC was required prior to execution of the project from 2008 to 2017," the bench said. "We are also unable to agree that the state did not proceed with the irrigation component in the project till the clearances were granted and only constructed components relating to supply of drinking water," it said.

The tribunal held that environmental clearance was granted to the lift irrigation project "ex post facto" (having retrospective effect) in violation of legal requirement. "All activities are clearly part of the irrigation project which cannot be separated from other objectives. It is difficult to accept that all such activities are only for drinking purpose," the bench said.

It said the project had serious implication in terms of environment and it was never exclusively a water supply project. The green panel also directed the MoEF secretary concerned to monitor the progress and said by affected party will be at liberty to make representation to the ministry within three weeks putting forward suggestions and grievances, which may be taken into the account by Committee.  "The MoEF may consider measures to prevent recurrence of such violations where EC is sought ex post facto. This is particularly required when the projects are multipurpose projects and part of it requires EC, so that such requirement is not defeated on specious plea that the project was partly not covered by the Schedule, as has happened in the present case," the bench said.

The project proponent submitted that the scheme is for providing water to the drought prone areas of the Telangana and it has two parts: drinking water and irrigation.  It said the project is primarily for water supply and water management project, which is not covered by the EIA Notification, 2006, in view of the amendment dated June 25, 2014.  "With regard to the expansion, it is stated that the decision has been taken to increase drawl of water from 2 thousand million cubic feet to 3 TMC/day by the Telangana government on October 6, 2019," the project proponent said. It claimed that the expansion does not alter the infrastructure plans and the State did not proceed with the irrigation component of the Kaleshwaram Project till the necessary and requisite clearances are obtained by them.

The tribunal's judgement came on a plea filed by Telangana-based Mohammad Hayath Udin, who alleged that the construction of the scheme had begun without environmental and other statutory clearances. The plea, filed through advocates Sanjay Upadhyay and Salik Shafique, had sought a ban on any non-forest activities such as felling of trees and blasting and tunnelling activities in the forest areas, which were in violation of the Forest Conservation Act.

Another plea was filed by Thummanapally Srinivas and others who had approached the NGT on the proposal and finalisation of tenders for the expansion of the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project without obtaining prior environmental clearance with an estimated cost of Rs 21,000 crore..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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