Achi news desk-
GUWAHATI: The Supreme Court of India has set aside an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) dismissing a plea against land clearance for the proposed greenfield airport at Dolo Tea Estate in Assam’s Silchar. The Supreme Court noted that the land clearing operations were carried out without an environmental permit (EC), in violation of the 2006 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) notice.
A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra observed that the authorities had violated the EIA notification by carrying out extensive land clearance without the required EC. The court ordered that no further actions be taken contrary to the notice from 2006.
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"We believe that the authorities in this case acted contrary to the notice by carrying out an extensive evacuation in the absence of an environmental permit," said the court. She emphasized that compliance with environmental laws is mandatory and that so far no EC has been issued for the project.
The court criticized the NGT for abdicating its role by dismissing the claim without proper scrutiny. The petition filed before the NGT raised concerns that the EIA report is still pending and that the necessary EC for the airport has not been granted.
During the hearing, the CJI suggested that the status quo be maintained until the environmental classification report is received. Attorney General Tushar Mehta, representing the state of Assam, argued that some of the petitioners file self-serving petitions without first-hand knowledge of the site, claiming that workers cut down trees for domestic purposes and that various factors such as the wind direction for the Green Field project must be taken into account. .
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However, advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the petitioners, emphasized that trees were cut down along with the bushes. He stated that uprooting of 41 lakh tea bushes was received and alleged that false statements were made in the joint secretary’s affidavit.
The court noted that the displacement of 41 lakhs could not be considered routine maintenance of the tea estate and it violated the EIA notification. The court set aside the NGT order and ordered that after receiving the approval report, the state of Assam could re-apply to start work on the field project the airport
