By A Representative
The Gujarat government, especially the chief minister’s
office (CMO) appears to be feeling shy
of coming up with details on environmental clearance, if any, provided to the
Statue of Unity, planned as the highest statue in the world in the memory of
Sardar Patel. Instead of giving a written reply on the crucial issue to senior
environmentalist Rohit Prajapati and other experts and activists who had sought
in writing details of environmental clearance, a letter sent by the CMO to him
evasively wants him to “contact” an additional secretary in the water resources
department to “clarify” the state government’s position on the matter.
The environmentalist insists, “While the Government of
Gujarat has proposed a nationwide programme seeking to involve school trustees,
principals, students and parents on December 15, 2013 to support the Statue
of Unity project through the Run of Unity marathon, we would like to share our
concerns, questions, and worries, including the glaring issues and procedural
anomalies.” He adds, he, along with a host of other intellectuals and activists
had asked, in writing, to the Government of India, with copies to the Gujarat chief
minister and the Gujarat chief secretary, to provide details of the
environmental clearance to the Statue of Unity.
Written on November 7, 2013, raising concern about environmental,
social and safety issues of the Statue of Unity project, he said, the
intellectuals and activists had expected a clear answer from the Gujarat
government in the matter. Yet, they received an evasive reply from the chief
minister’s office (CMO), which “instead of being clear on its actions to see environmental
clearance from the competent authorities forwarded our representation to
the water resources department”.
In their letter V. Rajagopalan, secretary, Ministry of
Environment & Forests (MoEF), Government of India, the intellectuals and
activists had said, the Statue of Unity near the Sardar Sarovar Dam in the
river downstream from the dam, just 3.2 km from the Shoolpaneshwar sanctuary, was
being built in in eco-sensitive zone and “involving massive infrastructure” and
“without legally mandatory environment clearance, environment and social impact
assessment or any public consultation process.”
Calling it “clearly illegal, in violation of the Environment
Protection Act, 1986 and the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification
of September 2006 and a number of national Green Tribunal (NGT) and court
orders about such massive construction on the riverbed”, they had added, “On October
31, 2013, the foundation stone was laid for the project amidst huge fanfare and
media attention. Tenders have been floated. Even the work for the Garudeshwar
weir, proposed about 12 km downstream of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, began without
any social or environmental impact assessment, public consultation and
environmental clearance from the Environmental Sub Group (ESG) of Narmada
Control Authority’s (NCA).”
Pointing out that the estimated cost of the project is more
than Rs. 2,500 crore, they had added, the key issues that beg immediate
scrutiny were:
(1) The project needs environment clearance
under the EIA notification of September 2006, but has not applied for or
obtained the clearance at any stage.
(2) The Shoolpaneshwar Sanctuary boundary
is touching the Sardar Sarovar reservoir. Since the statue is only 3.2 kms from
the Sardar Sarovar Dam, it is certainly nearby Shoolpaneshwar sanctuary.
(3) The project involves construction in
the river bed and proposed reservoir, close to sanctuary in eco-sensitive zone,
and hence will have serious impacts on the ecology and environment. Hence, and
EIA and EC is crucial.
(4) The project will affect the downstream
river, its biodiversity, people and livelihoods and other related aspects.
(5) A comprehensive assessment of the
environmental and social impacts of the Statue of Unity and its contribution to
the cumulative impact of all the projects and activities in the area has not
been done.
(6) The project also needs public
consultation, but none has happened so far.
(7) During the construction of the Sardar
Sarovar dam due to hard rock digging, the seismic area already carries the
burden of artificial activity in the bed rock and added load in what is deemed
geologically fault line area. Public reports on geotechnical and geological
studies on the proposed site have raised issues of structural stability as well
as safety.
In view of the above, they had demanded:
* Government of Gujarat should submit application for
environment clearance and till that is obtained, not to do any work related to
the project.
* Government of Gujarat should immediately stop planned Statue
of Unity and direct them to stop all other activities related to the Statue of
Unity.
* The foundation stone installation on October 31, 2013 for
the Statue of Unity should be declared illegal, in violation of the EIA
notification of September 2006 and the Environment Protection Act, 1986.
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