PRESS RELEASE: 05 December 2006: Bangalore

Ministry of Environment and Forests supports Karnataka State Pollution Control Board action against NICE

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In a significant statement, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has endorsed the decision of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) in withdrawing the Consent for Establishment (CFE) extended to M/s Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE), implementing the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project (BMICP).

On 20 September 2006, KSPCB withdrew the CFE as NICE had implemented the project in violation of clearance conditions. KSPCB took note of the fact that NICE had commissioned a section of the Peripheral Road (a really small component of the overall project) in a so-called "soft opening", but without seeking Consent for Operation as is required by law. Even as it was building this small section of the Peripheral Road, NICE significantly deviated from the alignment approved by KSPCB and MOEF. In so doing it encroached on hundreds of acres of public and private lands, and destroyed at least 20 tanks at last count.

Following the withdrawal of CFE by KSPCB, ESG submitted a Right to Information application to MoEF enquiring what action would follow by MoEF. This because the Central Environmental Clearance explicitly required NICE to fulfill all conditions imposed by KSPCB. Failure to comply with KSPCB conditions amounted to violation of the Environmental Clearance conditions for the project per se. Given that KSPCB had already taken action under the Water and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act on grounds of serious violations by NICE, it was imperative that MoEF must follow accordingly by withdrawing the Environmental Clearance.

MoEF responding to ESG's application on 30 November 2006 (copy enclosed) has confirmed that if KSPCB "has withdrawn any Consent for Establishment granted by it, then M/s NICE has to abide by the directions of the Board." This clarification is a clear endorsement of the KSPCB's independent powers to act in accordance with the Water and Air Acts and take appropriate action, including withdrawal of clearances granted, against violators.

MoEF also admits in its letter that it has "not withdrawn the Environmental Clearance issued to M/s NICE". By this statement MoEF exposes its lackadaisical approach to environmental regulation. The Environmental Clearance accorded to NICE is contingent on NICE complying with the conditions stated in the CFE. It must be noted that the very first condition of the MoEF clearance states: "All the conditions stipulated by Karnataka State Pollution Control Board … shall be effectively implemented". NICE has fundamentally violated almost all of KSPCB conditions and it is this that has caused the withdrawal of the CFE. When KSPCB withdrew the CFE, MoEF could have immediately acted by following one of two actions. Firstly, MoEF could have instituted an enquiry to decide what action it should take on the sustenance of the environmental clearance it has accorded to NICE. Alternately, it could have relied upon the judgment of KSPCB and proceeded to take action by withdrawing the Environmental Clearance accorded as is required per law.

Such congruent action has been taken by MoEF in the past on other projects, more recently in withdrawing the Forest Clearance accorded to the Sanghamitra Buddha Foundation's plans to carve a Buddha Statue in Handigondi Reserve Forest based on Karnataka Forest Department's clearance withdrawal. By not acting similarly in the present instance, despite the abundance of evidence of violations by NICE, MoEF shockingly exposes its extraordinary bias towards NICE, even though this is resulting in widespread destruction of tanks, wetlands, forests and displacing hundreds of families needlessly.

On its part, NICE has been engaged in a massive campaign, involving even the support of some sections of the media, to brazenly attack and defame those who have exposed its violations. Some captains of the IT sector have unnecessarily and questionably supported NICE in this campaign, without at all realizing that they are in effect supporting a major violation of India's environmental and human rights laws. Such vain attempts to present the company as a law abiding do-gooder serves no purpose, except in muddying the waters and confusing the public on the true realities about the manner in which the BMIC Project is being mis-implemented.

The clear need today is for NICE to stop indulging in petty mudslinging and to establish its bona fides as an environmentally and socially sound company by putting out in the public domain the exact alignment of its project. Further the onus remains on NICE to prove that the project implementation is along the approved alignment on the basis of topographical, revenue and satellite imagery maps.

Every day that NICE fails to come clean with such details only serves to corroborate the fact that the company is merely interested in acquiring excess lands in clear violation of the law, resulting in unplanned urban sprawl and thereby defeating the very purpose of the BMIC project.

Leo F. Saldanha
Coordinator
Environment Support Group
105, East End B Main Road, Jayanagar 9th Block East, Bangalore 560069.INDIA
Tel: 91-80-22441977/26531339 Fax: 91-80-26534364
Email: esg@esgindia.org or esg@bgl.vsnl.net.in Web: www.esgindia.org