NGT strikes down setting up of Environment Cell

C Shivakumar @ Chennai:

The move by the state government to amend Development control Rules and create a Environment Cell in Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority suffered a blow after National Green Tribunal’s principal Bench in New Delhi quashed a Environment Ministry notification of 2016 which ordered for setting up such cell.

The Environment Ministry notification had specified constitution of Environment cell by the local body and the state government recently held a crucial meeting to bring in changes in its development regulations.

However, the Green Tribunal Bench comprising of chairperson justice Swatanter Kumar, Justice Jawad Rahim (judicial member) and Bikram Singh Sajwan (Expert Member) in its order has stated that setting up environment cell in the local body will result in conflict of interest.

In its order that was passed on first week of December, the Green Tribunal observed that, “As per the notification of Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Environmental Cell is to be constituted by the local authority or the State Government, whereas the implementation of the environmental law is vested with the Central Government.”

“A Cell, primary duty of which is to protect the environment would have to work in subordination to a local authority whose primary object is to permit development. Thus, the possibility of conflicting interest arising in the functioning of the local authority and the Environmental Cell cannot be ruled out,” the principal Bench of National Green Tribunal said.

“Some of the portions of the impugned Notification; particularly, relating to granting of exemption from the application of Water and Air Acts; Rendering the provisions of the central law for taking action, penalizing defaulters and offenders of the environmental law being rendered ineffective; ambiguity and deficiencies in constitution of the Environmental Cell are some of the patent features of the impugned Notification which dilutes the environmental impacts on the one hand, while on the other, they are in derogation to India's international commitments to the Rio Declaration, 1992 and Paris Agreement, 2015,” the Tribunal has stated.

The Green Tribunal in order said that the provisions relating to exclusion of Consent to Operate and Consent to

Establish under Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 in clause 14 of the impugned Notification; relating to constitution and functioning of Environmental Cell, cannot be sustained and are liable to be quashed. The NGT directed the Environment ministry to re-examine its notification and take appropriate steps to delete, amend and rectify the clauses.

Earlier, the state government was planning to amend the development regulation where in the builder will no longer require to obtain environmental clearance from Tamil Nadu State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (TNSEIAA) as the compliance of environmental condition must be ensured by environment cell.