The Gujarat government on Tuesday said no environmental clearance was required for the proposed Statue of Unity as the proposed area of construction was less than 20,000 square metres. The state-owned Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited was responding to a Right to Information request from environmental activist Rohit Prajapati.
Mr. Prajapati’s query sought access to an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report and environmental clearance done for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream project, which entailed construction of a 182-m-high statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on the Narmada riverbed and proposed reservoir of Garudeshwar weir.
The SSNNL, in charge of the implementation of the project, responded on July 12, saying: “Environment clearance is not required to [be obtained for the project], hence environmental and social impact assessment of the State of Unity project and its contribution to the cumulative impact of all the projects and activities in the area is not carried out.”
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The project site is located between the ecologically rich Satpuda and Vidhyanchal Ranges near Narmada river, surrounded by the Garudeshwar weir, Sardar Sarovar Dam and town of Kevadia.
Asked why the EIA was not done, SSNNL MD Jagdip Narayan Singh told The Hindu : “As per the Central government’s rules, EIA is done only if the area of construction is above 20,000 square metres. In this case, the area is much less. For height there is no rule.”