The delay in finalising the notification of ecologically sensitive areas (ESAs) in the Western Ghats in the State is set to intensify the simmering conflict between quarry operators on the one hand and regulating agencies and environmental activists on the other.
An appeal filed in the High Court last Friday has accused the government of colluding with quarry owners to undermine the strident stand taken by the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) not to consider applications for quarries in the 123 villages earmarked as ESA by the Kasturirangan committee.
The government has come under fire for dragging its feet on challenging a High Court order directing the SEIAA to consider the application for environmental clearance for three granite quarries in Pathanamthitta, Idukki, and Kottayam districts. The third party appeal filed by environmental lawyer Harish Vasudevan for the complainant Sarngadharan has set the stage for a fresh row over the approval of quarries in the 123 villages earmarked by the Kasturirangan committee as ESA.
Clarification
A meeting of the SEIAA held on March 8 had decided to appeal against the High Court verdict and seek a clarification from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on the issue. Official sources said the judgement was delivered ex parte without seeking the opinion of the SEIAA.
Minutes of the meetings held by SEIAA reveal that the authority had consistently taken a position not to consider applications for quarries in the 123 villages. It had de-listed all such applications. The SEIAA had stuck to the stand that applications for environmental clearance could be considered only after the MoEFCC issued a final notification on ESAs in the States bordering the Western Ghats.
The Kasturirangan committee had earmarked 13,108 sq km in 123 villages as ESA in Kerala. Following widespread protests by villagers in the high ranges, the State government carried out a ground-level verification to exclude settlements and plantations from the ESAs. In March 2014, the MoEF issued a draft notification revising the extent of ESAs to 9,993 sq km in 123 villages.
However, the Ministry had earlier issued a direction to the SEIAAs of the six Western Ghats States not to grant ECs in the ESA villages until further orders.
No standing counsel
Sources said the delay in filing an appeal for the SEIAA violated the independence of the authority and highlighted the absence of a standing counsel for it. The Advocate General represents the authority in the High Court. They alleged the government had surrendered to pressure from quarry operators to withhold the appeal till time ran out.
