The National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA), which has been in the news for cancelling the go-ahead to Vedanta’s bauxite mining project in Orissa and mining giant Lafarge’s Rs 900-crore limestone mining project in Himachal Pradesh (HP), is being run by only one member since last year.
The authority hears appeals against orders granting environmental clearance. It was established in 1997 after the enactment of the National Environment Appellate Authority Act and is supposed to have a chairman, a vice-chairman and three members. However, for the last one year, the authority is being run by J C Kala, NEAA’s chairman, who got two six-month extensions after retiring in October last year.
“I am the only member left and my extension period will end on October 30, which is when the green tribunal is said to be set up. If the tribunal is set up, it will be in my discretion to be part of it or not,” said Kala, the lone soldier of the authority.
Kala said he was supported by a court master and three help staffers. Had there been more members, more cases would have been solved in less time, he added.
The National Green Tribunal will be the first judicial body to deal exclusively with environmental laws, wherein an individual will have the right to claim civil damages for an environment-related accident, including any adverse health impact.
Last week, the Authority gave its go-ahead to the 2,640-Mw coal-based Bhavanapadu thermal power project in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district. The project is being developed by East Coast Energy. It had also quashed the environmental clearance given to the Polavaram inter-state irrigation project in 2007, on the ground that public hearing was not conducted in affected areas of Orissa and Chhattisgarh, denying people access to information.
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Besides ailing from lack of human resources, the authority is also burdened with 40 pending cases including some high-profile ones, like NTPC’s 600-Mw hydroelectric project in HP and some steel projects.
Of the 40 pending cases, 15 related to steel plants, thermal power plants, hydroelectric projects and mining leases, while the number of cases related to construction of malls, five-star hotels and highrise buildings by removing slums stood at 10, Kala said.