The petition, filed by environmentalist RK Singh during the tenure of Raghubar Das, alleged major constructions were carried out in Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Bokaro and Deoghar without obtaining mandatory environmental clearance.The National Green Tribunal has ordered action against authorities in Jharkhand for allowing the construction of several major structures, including the High Court and Vidhan Sabha, without environmental clearance.
The principal bench of the tribunal, comprising Justice SP Wangdi and expert member Nagin Nanda, ordered a ban on all ongoing constructions that don’t have clearance.
“Environmental compensation shall be assessed in respect of all the structures which have been raised without EC and shall be recovered from the appropriate authorities/persons/ builders/project proponent within a period of three months. Environment compensation with respect of those which have already been assessed shall also be recovered within the said period,” it said.
It added: “Since the violations were being committed under the gaze of the concerned authorities we direct initiation of disciplinary proceedings against the concerned officers, the Municipal Commissioners and the State Pollution Control Board at the earliest… Action shall be initiated under section 19 of the EP Act by the State Pollution Control Board forthwith against those who are responsible for the violations.”
The petition, filed by environmentalist RK Singh during the tenure of Raghubar Das, alleged major constructions were carried out in Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Bokaro and Deoghar without obtaining mandatory environmental clearance under the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2006. A specific mention was made of the Jharkhand High Court and Vidhan Sabha buildings.
“As a consequence the ecology of the state has been impacted due to detrimental impact on the air quality, depletion in the level and quality of ground water and on soil fertility caused by the indiscriminate disposal of construction and demolition wastes,” the petition had stated.