The Environment Ministry today granted the necessary permissions for the construction of an extension campus of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in rural Haryana intended to ease the pressure on the premier institute here.
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar who chaired the meeting of the National Board of Wild Life (NBWL) said that all the necessary permissions for the project to begin was given during the meeting.
Ministry sources, however, said that the permission was given after putting up nearly a dozen stringent conditions to safeguard the environment.
"The NBWL met today. Whatever permission was needed for the construction of AIIMS in Haryana, it has been given. Haryana will get a good AIIMS. It will help ease the pressure from AIIMS Delhi. After getting the proposal, we cleared it within one month," the Union Minister told reporters.
Multi-speciality hospital on the lines of AIIMS will be set up at Badsha in Jhajjar district of Haryana. The Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary falls within 3.8 kms from the project.
Among the stringent measures which have been put in place, the project proponent, sources said, has been barred from extracting ground water in any form within the limits of Eco-Sensitive Zone of the sanctuary.
Javadekar further said that the NBWL also consulted on the issue of four laning of National Highway seven which passes through Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
"The NH7 which passes through Maharashtra and MP, a process of four-laning has moved forward. National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and all other concerned agencies have agreed for mitigation measures. Based on those mitigation measures, it has been cleared," the minister said.
The National Green Tribunal had recently pulled up the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) for not filing its response and causing undue delay on the pleas against the clearance given to fell trees for widening of National Highway-7 (Mansar-Khawasa) road in Madhya Pradesh-Maharashtra border.
The Tribunal was hearing the pleas of three NGOs--Srushti Paryavaran Mandal, Conservation Action Trust and Nature Conservation Society which contended that widening of road would cause irreparable damage to the Kanha-Pench Tiger reserve.
The NGOs had stated that National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) permission was mandatory under Wildlife Protection Act 1972 for the widening of NH-7, which was not followed.
