The Lavasa project got a conditional go-ahead for the hill city from the environment ministry?s Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC), though minister Jairam Ramesh tempered it with instruction to the Maharashtra government to take action on one section of the project which had reported the most violations.
Lavasa Corporation issued a statement welcoming the recommendations. But the ministry said it still had not given the final clearance to the project. ?Not that I am aware of?, Ramesh told FE.
The EAC clearance is significant and will now make it possible for Lavasa to approach the courts to push for all clearances for the project, something the corporation has been insisting on all along.
The independent body of the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) had in February set 34 conditions that the project, promoted by the subsidiary of HCC, to comply with. The conditions were a follow-through of the notice served on the 2,000-acre hill city project by the environment ministry in November last year. As part of its 34 conditions, the EAC had aso recommended the Maharashtra government to take action before any clearance is given.
The project had flown into a massive environmental storm with the Maharashtra government stating that all clearances were obtained by it and the MoEF asking for all clearances to be sought anew.
In a letter issued to Maharashtra?s environment secretary, the ministry said, ?During the process of appraisal, it was found that constructions/developments in 681-hectare area was in progress without obtaining prior environmental clearance… (which) are violations of the Environment (Protection) Act?.
The EAC recommendations of Februray this year mandated a clear demarcation of no development/construction zone/area comprising all water bodies and forest lands/forest like lands besides a separate calculation of the FSI calculation based on land uses.
?As far as possible, no hill cutting, digging, excavation, or any other activity involving generation of soil or its use or its transportation/will be carried out. In case it is necessary due to unavoidable circumstances to make hill cutting, slope stability analysis shall be carried out and provide slope stability protective measures to avoid land slide during rainy season. Documentary evidence of hill cutting and plantations shall be maintained to establish periodic commitments of afforestation,? says the EAC recommendation.
Moreover, the committee has also asked for continuous ecological monitoring of all water bodies, surface water and soil quality besides a detailed management plan related to prevention of soil erosion and loss of roadside plantation.
Lavasa has also been advised to earmark at least 5% of the total cost of the project towards corporate social responsibility.
?In the aforesaid factual matrix and noting the pendency of some issues before the High Court of Bombay, the committee recommends the proposal for Environmental Clearance for the firstphase (2,000 ha) with the above conditions for strict compliance and acceptance of the conditions,? the EAC report concludes.