In a partial relief to the Uttar Pradesh Government regarding the controversial Kanhar dam, the National Green Tribunal on Thursday gave a green signal to the construction already underway but stayed any new construction on the site.
A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said, “The project proponent shall complete the construction or activity that is underway and would not commence any new activity or construction without specific recommendations of the committee (set up by the NGT).”
The bench dismissed the applicant’s argument that the construction of dam be halted until the State Government sought fresh environmental clearance (EC) as opposed to the nearly 35-year-old consent order of the forest department.
“It would neither serve the interest of the environment or ecology nor would it serve public purpose. Huge amounts have been spent on this project,” it noted, adding that any stay on the present construction would further enhance its cost that starkly rose to Rs2,252.29 crore in 2013 from the original estimation of Rs27.75 crore.
Following a petition in the case last year, the green panel Dec 24 stayed the construction of the dam in Uttar Pradesh’s Maoist-affected Sonebhadra district as impermissible for lack of a valid EC. It was contended that the previous EC and forest clearance to the Kanhar dam project, first envisaged in 1976, was not valid after over 30 years.