The National Green Tribunal (NGT) in New Delhi recently directed real estate developer Rustomjee to deposit ₹1 crore with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) within one month as interim cost for causing damage to the environment. The NGT said that the developer’s residential project, Rustomjee Oriana, situated at MIG Colony in Bandra (East), had violated environmental law.
Clearance challenged
A Bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, Justice K. Ramakrishnan and Dr. Nagin Nanda was hearing an appeal filed in April 2014 by Anil Tharthare, a resident of MIG Colony. Mr. Tharthare, who was represented by advocate Aditya Pratap, was aggrieved by the rampant environmental violations.
Mr. Tharthare challenged an order passed on March 13, 2014 by the principal secretary, the environment-cum-member secretary and the State level Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) authority. The order had granted an amendment to the Environment Clearance (EC) on May 2, 2013 for the expansion of redevelopment of Oriana Residential Project at Bandra (East).
According to the provisions of EIA Notification (2006) and under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the EC is required for a new project and for expansion if the extent of the construction is more than 20,000 square metres. In this project, the built up area was increased from 32,395 square metres to 40,480 square metres.
In the process, the construction reached 15 floors and the expansion proposal was treated as an ‘amendment’ by the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) and the EC was granted on March 13, 2014.
The court held that the developer had commenced construction without environment clearance. The developer then added 16 flats and two floors to the building for which the amended environment clearance was given, which was in complete violation of the EIA notification of 2006.
The Bench then constituted a five-member expert committee comprising two representatives of CPCB (one engineer and one scientist), one representative of the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and two members of the SEAC (one engineer and one scientist) to conduct a ‘Carrying Capacity’ study of the area for relevant environment parameters and impact of such expansion on already congested areas.
The Bench said that the committee may suggest remedial measures, including action against violators of law who complete projects in violation of mandatory provisions making the situation irreversible. The committee was also asked to suggest parameters for appraisal of such projects even if they are within the FSI as cities are already highly congested with no sufficient space for traffic and open areas, and the cost of restoration of environment. The committee has been asked to furnish its report to the NGT by April 30, 2019.
‘Illegal construction’
The court noted, “Bombay [Mumbai] is a highly congested city and any further constructions must be strictly legal. Any illegal construction must be visited with permissible adverse legal action.” It further observed that the developer’s conduct of adding 16 additional flats, which he would then sell at ₹6 crore each, was done in an illegal manner.
According to the EIA notification, if an application is made for expansion of a project, then the proposal must first go to the SEAC, which will critically assess the project. Only after the committee makes a recommendation can the State Environment Impact Assessment authority grant the environmental clearance.
