NGT grants more time to MoEF on plea alleging govt buildings lack clearances

The National Green Tribunal Wednesday granted more time to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to submit report on a plea alleging that large number of major structures in Jharkhand, including the state Assembly, have been built without obtaining mandatory clearances.

A bench comprising Justice S P Wangdi and expert member Nagin Nanda noted that with regard to the Vidhan Sabha building, application had already been submitted before the environment ministry for consideration.

"Further time sought for on behalf of the State to file status report and by the MoEF to comply with the order dated March 16 of the tribunal is allowed. Let them do so without fail before the next date," the bench said.

The Central Pollution Control Board had earlier told the NGT that the state government is liable to pay environmental compensation of varying sums for the proposed Assembly Building (Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha) and New Ranchi High Court Building & Residential Complex.

The tribunal was hearing a plea filed by activist R K Singh alleging that construction of various buildings in the cities of Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Bokaro and Deogarh have been carried out without obtaining mandatory prior environmental clearance under the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006.

It said that there are large number of major structures in the State of Jharkhand which have not undergone the Environment Impact Assessment process.

The green panel had earlier constituted a committee comprising representatives from the regional office of the MoEF and State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) to verify the claims of the petitioner and submit a report.