Gujarat CM office offers "evasive" reply to query on environmental clearance to Statue of Unity

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 CMO fielded a lower level official, a deputy collector, public relations, to forward the reply. The official also asked the additional secretary of the water resources department to “examine” Prajapati’s representation and “take action as per the rules, and to provide details of the action taken to those concerned as directed.” Taking strong exception to the allegedly frivolous manner in which the CMO has sought to deal with the issue, a statement issued by the environmentalist has said, “It is clear the Gujarat government authorities responsible for processing and/or granting environment clearances are keeping silent, while the CMO refuses to provide an answer.”

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.

Comments

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Echoes of Vietnam and Chile: The devastating cost of the I-A Axis in Iran

By Ram Puniyani The recent joint military actions by Israel and the United States against Iran have been devastating. Like all wars, this conflict is brutal to its core, leaving a trail of human suffering in its wake. The stated pretext for this aggression—the brutality of the Ayatollah Khamenei regime and its nuclear ambitions—clashes sharply with the reality of the diplomatic landscape. Iran had expressed a willingness to remain at the negotiating table, signaling a readiness to concede points emerging from dialogue.

Authoritarian destruction of the public sphere in Ecuador: Trumpism in action?

By Pilar Troya Fernández The situation in Ecuador under Daniel Noboa's government is one of authoritarianism advancing on several fronts simultaneously to consolidate neoliberalism and total submission to the US international agenda. These are not isolated measures, but rather a coordinated strategy that combines job insecurity, the dismantling of the welfare state, unrestricted access to mining, the continuation of oil exploitation without environmental considerations, the centralization of power through the financial suffocation of local governments, and the systematic criminalization of all forms of opposition and popular organization.

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey* In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.

Search This Blog