The Supreme Court has sought a response from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) and Delhi University (DU) on an appeal challenging an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) which sets aside the Environmental Clearance (EC) granted to a private builder for constructing a group housing near a metro station of the state.
When hearing a plea by the builder, a real estate firm called Young Builders Private Limited, on Monday, August 29, a Bench consisting of Justices SK Kaul and Abhay S Oka issued notices to the MoEF and DU. "Issue notice to respondents returnable in six weeks," the Bench said, as mentioned in a PTI report.
The real estate firm had challenged the May 31, 2022 order of the NGT, which said that the EC had been granted without proper evaluation. Back then, the NGT had been hearing a plea filed by DU against the grant of EC by the MoEF. The firm was asking for a built-up area of 1,37,879.64 square metres at Cavalry Lane and Chhatra Marg near the Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station, which services the University of Delhi North campus area and the Delhi University Stadium.
DU's plea had claimed that there was no serious study on the carrying capacity of the recipient environment to sustain such a mega project in Delhi, which is already facing challenges regarding clean air and waste management. The NGT had agreed with DU. "In view of our conclusion that EC has been granted without proper evaluation, the project cannot be allowed without such proper evaluation about its sustainability or otherwise in the light of available data, a case is made for interference by this Tribunal," it said, as per PTI.
"Existing air and noise levels do not permit any further additive load in the area, particularly a high-rise building having adverse impacts on the environment, including potential for fire incidents, adverse impact on microclimate due to wind funnelling and turbulence around their bases, generation of particulate matter because of heavy machinery and equipment and waste management," it had added.
The NGT had said there would be an unmanageable impact on traffic density and adverse impact on flora and fauna and groundwater regime of nearby pristine ridge. It had added that the project proponent failed to disclose correct and complete information, withheld relevant information and violated provisions of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) 2006, hence was liable to face consequences as per the provisions of EIA.
