Skip to main content

No official documents exist showing eco-clearance for Garudeshwar Weir

Villagers protest against Garudeshwar Dam
By Rohit Prajapati, Lakhan Musafir*
In our case against Garudeshwar Weir (being set up about 12 km downstream of the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Narmada river) in the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), has said, “… no project proposal regarding Garudeshwar Weir at Garudeshwar village, District Narmada of Gujarat, has been received in this Ministry.” The Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL) has said, its affidavit is only for “the limited purpose”, it is “not dealing with the application parawise”, nor it is “giving elaborate details which would show that construction of Garudeshwar Weir is strictly in conformity with law.” It is now clear: the SSNNL has no documents to show and prove that the construction of Garudeshwar Weir is going on as per the law.
In their replies the MoEF, the Narmada Control Authority (NCA) and the SSNNL do not deny our contention that:There has never been an environment and social impact assessment of the Garudeshwar weir, nor is there any environment and social management plan,
There has never been any public consultation on the issue of Garudeshwar Dam, and
The Garudeshwar Dam requires statutory clearances from the Environment Sub Group, Rehabilitation Sub Group of the NCA and also the NCA itself, but such clearances have not been taken.
In view of this, as mentioned in our petition, the work on Garudeshwar Dam, now going on, is illegal and should immediately stop till all necessary statutory clearances are taken, and till informed consultation process is completed.

MoEF wants to be excused

The MoEF, in its reply filed before the NGT on May 29, 2014, in response to our Application No 10/2014 (WZ) stated, “No project proposal regarding Garudeshwar Weir at Garudeshwar Village, District Narmada of Gujarat has been received in this Ministry.” It has become clear that at no point of time the construction of Garudeshwar Weir had come before it for environmental clearance.
The MoEF implicitly agrees with our contention that the Garudeshwar Dam is a project for which no impact assessment was available before it at any stage. This implies that the affected villages, next to the weir, were neither surveyed, nor environmental and social impact was made known, nor were mitigation and management plans prepared, nor were there any consultations. The impact assessment of Garudeshwar Dam was not part of the studies submitted by Gujarat to the MoEF before the 1987 environmental clearance of the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP). Thus, environmental clearance for SSP cannot be construed as clearance for Garudeshwar Weir.
The MoEF is not denying the contents of letter dated March 24, 2013 written by Shekhar Singh, an independent member of environment sub-group of the NCA (the statutory body responsible for clearance before taking up construction for the SSP at every stage), and the letters dated October 26 and 28, 2013 of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti and villagers. The MoEF only states in its affidavit, “…copies of the letter dated 24.3.2013 by Mr. Shekhar Singh, Member, ESG, Narmada Control Authority and letter dated 26.10.2013 by Applicants could not be traced in the Ministry. Therefore, no responses were made on the subject.”
The Supreme Court order dated October 18, 2000 in the case of Narmada Bachao Andolan v/s Union of India and others states that environment clearance for the Narmada project, approval of the environment sub-group (ESG) and rehabilitation & resettlement sub-group (RSG) of the NCA are necessary at each stage of project construction. Without such explicit approval, the construction of any component of the project cannot be taken up. Since construction of Garudeshwar Weir has not been approved by the ESG and RSG of the NCA at any stage, such construction is illegal and should be stopped.
The MoEF in its affidavit at the end states, “As per contents of the petition, MoEF is not having any role to play in the present petition. Therefore, MoEF may not be made a party in the present Petition.”
But MoEF is an environmental regulator of India, which is responsible for the protection of environment and forest in general, and the secretary, MoEF, is also a chairman of the ESG of NCA. The MoEF cannot shirk its responsibility and it is shocking to see MoEF shirking its responsibility.

NCA’s untenable reply

The executive engineer of the NCA filed a reply on behalf of the chairman of the environment and rehabilitation sub-groups of the NCA, the chairman of the NCA, secretary of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and also secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources! This is clearly a legally untenable act. The executive engineer of the NCA does not have legal authority and mandate to file joint reply on behalf of these bodies, which have very specific and different roles. Clubbing them in one reply is not only violation of the cause of environment, rehabilitation, water resources development and independent and statutory groups and authorities; it would do disservice to the interests these authorities and ministries are supposed to protect. The affidavit is also in violation of the basic principle of judicial process and hence should be rejected.
The reply is nowhere disputing our contention that social or environmental impact assessment of the construction of Garudeshwar Weir has not been taken up at any stage. Nor is the reply disputing our contention that no participatory decision making process has been followed before starting the construction of the Garudeshwar Weir, involving the affected people and other interest groups.
The reply is also not disputing our contention that at no stage the permissions of the environment sub-group, rehabilitation sub-group, and participating states have been taken for the construction of the Garudeshwar Weir.
In fact the reply is so callous that it does not even bother to state what the impact of the Garudeshwar Dam would be. The reply does not go into merits of the issues about the impact of the Garudeshwar Dam and what has been done about that. It only contends that the application should be dismissed on procedural grounds, and just to contend this, it has taken more than four months, which is clearly an abuse of the time given to it.
If indeed any social and environmental impact assessment of the Garudeshwar Dam has been done, or the authorities have taken and/or expressed and specific permission of the environment and rehabilitation sub-groups of the NCA and the NCA, then this should have been produced. Taking up construction of the Garudeshwar Weir is in violation of the due process, including that of the Supreme Court order.

The SSNNL reply

The reply filed by the SSNNL after taking more than four months is vague; it has tried its best to avoid addressing the basic crucial issue of the furnishing the mandated environmental impact assessment and environment clearance of Garudeshwar Weir.
The SSNNL representative in the reply states “… I am filing this affidavit only for the limited purpose as aforesaid, I am not dealing with the application parawise at this stage nor am I giving elaborate details which would show that construction of Garudeshwar Weir is strictly in conformity with law.” By stating “… nor am I giving elaborate details which would show that construction of Garudeshwar Weir is strictly in conformity with law”, the SSNNL reply makes it crystal clear that it does not have documents to show and prove that the construction of Garudeshwar Weir is going on as per law. It also does not have documents to show that it obtained the necessary environment clearance from the concerned authority.
The SSNNL in its reply further states, “At the outset, I beg to raise the following preliminary objections as regards the maintainability of the present application under the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 which is purported to have been filed under Section 18(1) read with Section 14 and 15 of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010. I respectfully pray that the below mentioned preliminary objections be decided first.” This is a ploy adopted by the SSNNL to delay the case and continue with the illegal construction work to defeat the process of justice.

Our Response

We had filed our affidavits in rejoinder, in response to all the affidavits filed by the authorities, and raised above-mentioned issues in our affidavits, and demanded stoppage of irreversible nature of work carried out by the SSNNL for Garudeshwar Weir. Considering that none of the concerned authorities have been able to produce either impact assessment or environment clearance obtained from the MoEF and from the environment and R&R sub-groups of the NCA, the NGT should immediately order stoppage of work.
—
*Representing Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, Vadodara, which has filed a petition in the National Green Tribunal to immediately stop work the Garudeshwar Weir, 12 km off Sardar Sarovar dam

Comments

Post a Comment

TRENDING

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor*  This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.
Post a Comment
»

Two more "aadhaar-linked" Jharkhand deaths: 17 die of starvation since Sept 2017

Kaleshwar's sons Santosh and Mantosh Counterview Desk A fact-finding team of the Right to Feed Campaign, pointing towards the death of two more persons due to starvation in Jharkhand, has said that this has happened because of the absence of aadhaar, leading to “persistent lack of food at home and unavailability of any means of earning.” It has disputed the state government claims that these deaths are due to reasons other than starvation, adding, the authorities have “done nothing” to reduce the alarming state of food insecurity in the state.
1 comment
»

What's behind Donald Trump's 'narco-state' accusation against Venezuela

By Manolo De Los Santos  The US government has revived its campaign to label Venezuela a "narco-state", accusing its top leadership of drug trafficking and slapping hefty bounties on their heads for capture. This campaign, which only momentarily took a backseat, is a strategic fabrication, not a factual assessment. This accusation, particularly amplified under the Trump Administration, is a calculated smokescreen to justify a long-standing agenda: the overthrow of the Venezuelan government and the seizure of its vast oil and mineral resources. A closer examination of the facts reveals a country that has actively fought drug trafficking on its own terms and a US government with a clear and consistent history of destabilizing independent countries in Latin America.
1 comment
»

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...
Post a Comment
»

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...
Post a Comment
»

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...
Post a Comment
»

1857 War of Independence... when Hindu-Muslim separatism, hatred wasn't an issue

"The Sepoy Revolt at Meerut", Illustrated London News, 1857  By Shamsul Islam* Large sections of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs unitedly challenged the greatest imperialist power, Britain, during India’s First War of Independence which began on May 10, 1857; the day being Sunday. This extraordinary unity, naturally, unnerved the firangees and made them realize that if their rule was to continue in India, it could happen only when Hindus and Muslims, the largest two religious communities were divided on communal lines.
Post a Comment
»

Ground reality: Israel would a remain Jewish state, attempt to overthrow it will be futile

By NS Venkataraman*  Now that truce has been arrived at between Israel and Hamas for a period of four days and with release of a few hostages from both sides, there is hope that truce would be further extended and the intensity of war would become significantly less. This likely “truce period” gives an opportunity for the sworn supporters and bitter opponents of Hamas as well as Israel and the observers around the world to introspect on the happenings and whether this war could have been avoided. There is prolonged debate for the last several decades as to whom the present region that has been provided to Jews after the World War II belong. View of some people is that Jews have been occupants earlier and therefore, the region should belong to Jews only. However, Christians and those belonging to Islam have also lived in this regions for long period. While Christians make no claim, the dispute is between Jews and those who claim themselves to be Palestinians. In any case...
Post a Comment
»

Fate of Yamuna floodplain still hangs in "balance" despite National Green Tribunal rap on Sri Sri event

By Ashok Shrimali* While the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday reportedly pulled up the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for granting permission to hold spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's World Culture Festival on the banks of Yamuna, the chief petitioners against the high-profile event Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan has declared, the “fate of the floodplain still hangs in balance.”
Post a Comment
»