Central Vista project: Environmentalists call fresh GoI proposal arbitrary, piecemeal

By A Representative
A uniform letter, sent by a large number of environmental experts from across India to T Haque, chairman, Experts Assessment Commission (EAC) under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India (GoI), has expressed shock over the submission of a fresh revised proposal on the Central Vista project in Delhi for approval, calling the move “arbitrarily”.
Titled “Development/ Redevelopment Of Common Central Secretariat Buildings and Central Conference Centre Along With Prime Minister’s Residence, SPG Building and Vice President’s Enclave, New Delhi”, the new proposal was submitted to AEC on December 17.
Stating that the proposal appears to “completely undermine” pending challenges in the Supreme Court against the project proponents – Central Public Work Department (CPWD) and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs ( MoHUA) – the letter regretted, similar submissions were made in the past also “failed to disclose all the components of the project.”
“We appreciate the fact that EAC had taken a strong and considered position during the last meeting when the project had been returned to the project proponent indicating that they should not follow a ‘piecemeal approach’ and revert with an ‘integrated project’. We would like to point out that this proposal is still ‘piecemeal’ and not integrated”, the letter – forwarded to Counterview by one of the signatories, Gujarat-based environmentalist Rohit Prajapati – said.
Pointing towards how CPWD and MoHUA have refused to disclose all the components of the project in the past, the letter said, the December 9 proposal “arbitrability removed the Prime Minister’s Office i.e. Plot 36 from the proposal” without giving any explanation on why they were doing this. Further, the December 9 proposal “reduced built-up area of 17,21,500 sqm as against 18,37,057.35 sqm “without any disclosure of why and how the project consultants and the project proponents have introduced these changes.”
Further, the December 9 proposal refused to include the mew Parliament building, the new India Garden, the underground transit, all of which have been reported in the media to be part of the Central Vista redevelopment. “These standalone components will either not be placed before the environment ministry or introduced at a later stage once again indicating a piecemeal approach as has been rightly observed by the EAC”, the letter said.
Ironically, said the letter, “While the government has decreased the built-up area the cost of the project has increased from INR 11,794 crore in November 2020 to INR 13,450 crore in the present proposal.”
Accusing of the government of turning the project proposal to EAC into “mockery in full public view”, the letter said, “The proposal is being pushed through with utter disregard of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification and continues to challenge the mandate of the EAC for detailed scrutiny. The application clearly gives the impression that that the project proponent is not aware that they are applying for an environmental approval and not for a building approval.”
Asking EAC to “exercise its authority and responsibility to seek full disclosure from the project proponent regarding the various components”, the letter insisted, only when this is done, it should issue terms of reference for the project proponents.

Comments

Gujarat Information Commission issues warning against misinterpretation of RTI orders

By A Representative The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has issued a press note clarifying that its orders limiting the number of Right to Information (RTI) applications for certain individuals apply only to those specific applicants. The GIC has warned that it will take disciplinary action against any public officials who misinterpret these orders to deny information to other citizens. The press note, signed by GIC Secretary Jaideep Dwivedi, states that the Right to Information Act, 2005, is a powerful tool for promoting transparency and accountability in public administration. However, the commission has observed that some applicants are misusing the act by filing an excessive number of applications, which disproportionately consumes the time and resources of Public Information Officers (PIOs), First Appellate Authorities (FAAs), and the commission itself. This misuse can cause delays for genuine applicants seeking justice. In response to this issue, and in acc...

'MGNREGA crisis deepening': NSM demands fair wages and end to digital exclusions

By A Representative The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a coalition of independent unions of MGNREGA workers, has warned that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is facing a “severe crisis” due to persistent neglect and restrictive measures imposed by the Union Government.

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.

Gandhiji quoted as saying his anti-untouchability view has little space for inter-dining with "lower" castes

By A Representative A senior activist close to Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar has defended top Booker prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy’s controversial utterance on Gandhiji that “his doctrine of nonviolence was based on an acceptance of the most brutal social hierarchy the world has ever known, the caste system.” Surprised at the police seeking video footage and transcript of Roy’s Mahatma Ayyankali memorial lecture at the Kerala University on July 17, Nandini K Oza in a recent blog quotes from available sources to “prove” that Gandhiji indeed believed in “removal of untouchability within the caste system.”

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification.

Subject to geological upheaval, the time to listen to the Himalayas has already passed

By Rajkumar Sinha* The people of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, who have somehow survived the onslaught of reckless development so far, are crying out in despair that within the next ten to fifteen years their very existence will vanish. If one carefully follows the news coming from these two Himalayan states these days, this painful cry does not appear exaggerated. How did these prosperous and peaceful states reach such a tragic condition? What feats of our policymakers and politicians pushed these states to the brink of destruction?

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Rally in Patna: Non-farmer bodies to highlight plight of agriculture in Eastern India ahead of march to Parliament

P Sainath By A Representative Ahead of the march to Parliament on November 29-30, 2018, organized by over 210 farmer and agricultural worker organisations of the country demanding a 21-day special session of Parliament to deliberate on remedial measures for safeguarding the interest of farm, farmers and agricultural workers, a mass rally been organized for November 23, Gandhi Sangrahalaya (Gandhi Museum), Gandhi Maidan, Patna. Say the organizers, the Eastern region merits special attention, because, while crisis of farmers and agricultural workers in Western, Southern and Northern India has received some attention in the media and central legislature, the plight of those in the Eastern region of the country (Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Eastern UP) has remained on the margins. To be addressed by P Sainath, founder of People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), a statement issued ahead of the rally says, the Eastern India was the most prosperous regi...

'Centre criminally negligent': SKM demands national disaster declaration in flood-hit states

By A Representative The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has urged the Centre to immediately declare the recent floods and landslides in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Haryana as a national disaster, warning that the delay in doing so has deepened the suffering of the affected population.

Counterview

Search This Blog