The National Green Tribunal (NGT) took the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to task over its recent notification excepting real estate projects from obtaining prior environmental clearance and reserved it from permitting any fresh permission under new regulations.
On December 9, the Environment Ministry published a notice which exempted building and construction real estate projects covering on an area of 20,000 square metres to 1, 50,000 square metres from getting environment clearance.
The green panel had earlier declined to stay the December 9 notification by MoEF and issued notices to the ministries of Environment and Forests and Urban Development while seeking their reply before January 4, 2017.
The panel order came in reply to a request filed by an NGO, the Society for Protection of Environment and Biodiversity, seeking overwhelming of the notification on the grounds that it was in violation to the provisions of the environment impact assessment notification, 2006 and Environment Protection Act, 1986.
“Until further order the notification will not be implemented…. If you grant even one clearance under the new notification we will stay the notification,” Justice Swatanter Kumar, NGT Chairperson said.
The request opposed that the purpose of including the construction projects in the EIA notification is a failure of the urban local bodies and development authorities.The matter is now listed for next hearing on January 12.
