Decide on pending environmental clearance proposals for projects in Pimpri Chinchwad in 8 weeks: HC to state panel
Pune: The
Bombay high court
has directed the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) to 'consider in accordance with law and within eight weeks' the pending
environmental clearance
proposals for housing projects in
Pimpri Chinchwad
.
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These proposals are to be considered based on the Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) score as updated/published by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) for Pimpri Chinchwad in accordance with an email dated Sept 2, 2024, sent by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), or in accordance with a clarification by the CPCB to the SEIAA on the issue of grant of clearance.
CEPI is an index that calculates the environmental quality of industrial areas.
Those with a CEPI score between 60 and 70 are termed as severely polluted, while those above 70 are considered critically polluted.
Real estate body Credai Pune Metro, along with a couple of developers from Baner and Bhosari, had filed a petition alleging 'arbitrary and inordinate' delay in the approval of environment clearance by the SEIAA despite the CEPI score being within permissible limits. "More than 124 housing projects in Pimpri Chinchwad, involving an investment of nearly Rs30,000 crore, are pending approval by SEIAA since Aug last year," a Credai office-bearer said.
Credai Pune Metro's head of environment committee Manish Kaneria said, "The HC directive comes as a big relief for new as well as existing projects seeking environmental approvals, and it will boost the overall economic activities in the PCMC areas."
According to a Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) environment impact assessment (EIA) notification of 2006, projects involving 20,000-1,50,000sqm of construction and township projects covering over 50 hectares or with a built-up area exceeding 1,50,000sqm are classified as 'B' and 'B1' categories that require environmental clearances following a scrutiny by the SEIAA.
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On Dec 22, 2014, the MoEFCC issued a notification amending the 2006 EIA notification to declare that the general conditions for the 'B' and 'B1' category projects would not apply. The same was challenged before the Kerala HC, which decided the matter 10 years later by setting aside the Dec 22, 2014, notification.
The Kerala HC ruling formed the basis for the SEIAA to decide at its 279th meeting on Aug 13, 2024, to defer the proposals seeking EC of many (Credai) members and to wait for a clarification to be issued by CPCB.
The real estate body challenged this approach as arbitrary.
On April 30, the HC bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice MS Karnik noted, "Consideration of the proposals received by respondent no.2 (SEIAA) from the member of the petitioner (Credai) cannot be indefinitely deferred. The deferment of the consideration of the proposals of the petitioners in this manner is not justified. The petitioners have the right to have proposals considered in accordance with law within a reasonable time.
We are inclined to grant reasonable time to respondent no.2 to obtain necessary clarification from CPCB. However, we are not inclined to accede to the request made by the learned counsel that respondent no.2 will consider the proposal after the necessary clarifications are forthcoming from the CPCB."
The CEPI score of the PCMC industrial area as of June 2024 was 48.37, according to information from the MPCB. The HC observed that the CEPI score of PCMC is below the threshold for critically or severely polluted classification.
It also noted that the proposals of real estate developers were deferred by SEIAA on the assumption that PCMC is critically and severely polluted, contrary to the CPCB clarification.
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