The Supreme Court today ordered a fresh environment study of the Saurashtra coastline in Gujarat where a cement plant of Nirma Ltd is set to come up. The court wanted to ascertain whether the plant was being built on a wetland.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) had asked the company to stop construction of the plant in Bhavnagar district following protests by villagers. The latter claimed the facility was being built on a natural water body and would destroy their farmland and cattle wealth.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia had earlier asked the MoEF to respond to the petition moved by the farmers’ organisations, but in a new development, the court felt there should be a full-scale review of the project by independent experts. The body will file its report within six weeks and the court will take up the case two weeks thereafter.
The crucial question before the panel would be whether the 268 hectares allotted to the company was wetland. If so, it would be environmentally sensitive and capable of destroying the ecology of the region. Though the company had relinquished 100 hectares, following the Gujarat High Court orders, the farmers moved the Supreme Court as they were still apprehensive of the impact of the plant on their livelihood.
During the hearing, the chief justice made it clear that mere site clearance was not enough, but forest clearance was essential. The court will not examine the clearance of projects piecemeal, but will take up this and other similar projects only after getting all clearances required under law. It will examine the notifications relevant to the project and test whether the rules have been followed. This was the court policy in all future matters, the chief justice clarified. The judges said the committee should go into the revenue records to find out how the controversial land has been classified: wetland, forest or other categories. “Public hearings are not compelling evidence of the nature of the land,” the court observed.
The committee should also state the impact of the project on the surrounding area and what is the current status of construction.
The company claimed it had all relevant clearances and has spent Rs 180 crore in three years. So, stoppage of the project at this juncture would have disastrous consequences.
