Making environmental clearance a must for all development projects, the Supreme Court has ordered demolition of a restaurant situated at the scenic Periyar riverbank in Kerala for not possessing a green clearance.
A notification issued in the State on January 13, 1978 made it mandatory for any project above `10 lakh to obtain clearance from the Environmental Planning and Coordination Committee. The restaurant had no clearance under this notification although the project was worth `55.72 lakh.
Surprisingly, the project got sanction from the State’s Tourism department on May 20, 2005 as part of a renovation and beautification plan of Manalpuram Park situated on Periyar riverbed. The restaurant was supposed to cater to large number of visitors during Shivratri celebrations.
A petition filed by a group of citizens under the name Association for Environment Protection brought the matter to court. It submitted that the 2005 sanction order of the State Government could not override the 1978 notification particularly since the said construction would adversely affect the flow of the river and reduce the strength of a bridge constructed nearby.
The Bench of Justices GS Singhvi and Sharad A Bobde agreed with the petitioner and said, “The execution of the project including construction of restaurant is ex-facie contrary to the mandate of GO dated January 13, 1978, which was issued by the State in discharge of its Constitutional obligation under Article 48-A.” This provision entailed the State to protect and improve the environment as it was the custodian of natural resources under a public trust doctrine.
Finding the State agencies to be at fault, the Bench said, “By omitting to refer the project to the Committee, the District Tourism Promotion Council and the Department of Tourism conveniently avoided scrutiny of the project in the light of the parameters required to be kept in view for protection of environment of the area and the river.”