National Green Tribunal
Ashish Chaubey vs Acp Tollways Private Limited on 22 August, 2023
Item No. 07 Court No. 1
BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL
PRINCIPAL BENCH, NEW DELHI
(BY HYBRID MODE)
Original Application No. 636/2022
(I.A. No. 176/2023 & I.A. No. 421/2023)
Ashish Chaubey Applicant
Versus
ACP Tollways Private Limited & Ors. Respondent
Date of hearing: 22.08.2023
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SHEO KUMAR SINGH, CHAIRPERSON
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN KUMAR TYAGI, JUDICIAL MEMBER
HON'BLE DR. A. SENTHIL VEL, EXPERT MEMBER
Applicant: Mr. Ajay Kumar, Kausar Raza Faridi, Avinash Kumar Saurab, Advocates
Respondents: Mr. Pradeep Misra & Mr. Daleep Dhyani, Advs. for UPPCB
Mr. Karan Chibber & Mr. Shivam Parashar, Advs. for R - 1
Mr. Avneesh Arputham, Adv. for R - 2 & 7
Mr. Abhishek Dwivedi, Adv. for R - 3
Mr. Gigi.C.George, Adv. for R - 4 to 8
ORDER
1. Issue raised in this application is violation of conditions imposed in para 8, para11 and para 18 of NOC issued by Special Secretary, Uttar Pradesh Government in connection with the permission to use 129.251 hectare of the forest lands and cutting of 18632 trees of Kaimoor Wildlife Sanctuary in Sonbhadra, Obra and Renukoot Forest Divisions for the upgradation and widening of the NH-6A to the U.P. State Highway Authority (UPSHA) wherein, it has been stipulated that no labour camp shall be established on the Forest Land. However, in violation of the said provision ACP Toll-ways Private Limited has constructed residential colony and offices of permanent nature in the eco-sensitive zone on the land of Reserve Forest Area at Lodhi, Robertsganj in the District Sonbhadra.
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2. A report was called by a joint Committee consisting of Forest Department, District Magistrate and State PCB and it was reported that there are violations of conditions in construction of administrative building and office building and instead of constructing it on the left side, it was constructed on the right side. Further, in addition to administrative and office building, the residential building was also constructed in violation of conditions of permission. It has further been reported that the relevant permission has not been taken by the Government of India under the National Wildlife Act, in violation of guidelines issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Environment and Forest. As per Wildlife Conservation Strategy 2002, the land falling within 10 km. of the boundaries of National Parks and sanctuaries should be notified as Eco-fragile Zones under Section 3(2)(v) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and Rule 5(1)(viii) of the Environment Protection Rules.
3. A report was called from the Divisional Forest Officer, Sonbhadra and in its reply filed by Respondent No. 5, on behalf of the DFO, Sonbhadra, it has been submitted that:
"4. That the Uttar Pradesh State Highway Authority replied through their letter no.990/Pradesh vi/-18/SH-5AF-63/2022- 23/upsha/lucknow dt.12.01.23 that UPSHA constructed road on PPP model based on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer. UPSHA asked the concessionaire to provide detailed comments.
5. That the ACP Tollways Pvt. Ltd. replied to Member(Tech.) UPSHA through letter no. ACPTP/UPSHA/CAMP/2022-23/126 dt.05.01.23 stating that as per conditions of the Forest Clearance, the Toll Plaza Administrative Building @TP-02 was proposed to be constructed on the left hand side(LHS) of the project Highway. However due to the technical feasibility and suitability of the land, Concessionaire has opted to construct the said building on Right Hand Side(RHS) of the Toll Plaza well within the Right of Way(ROW) earmarked for the project. They further stated that the existing road(prior augmentation to Four- laning) was in curve and elevated being hilly terrain which was later straightened as per the designed alignment for four laning 2 works. In this process of fitting the alignment, the Toll Plaza Administrative Building is falling on the RHS of augmented Project Highway which is in fact is matching with the previous proposed location i.e. LHS of existing Highway. Hence there is no material deviation in construction of the Toll Plaza Administrative Building at TP-02. In reply to Para 19 regarding violation of Forest land they replied that Forest Department is not cooperating with them.
6. That from the above it is clear that ACP Tollways Pvt. Ltd. has violated conditions mentioned in Para 7 and 19 of the NOC issued. It is further submitted that ACP Tollways Pvt. Ltd. has changed the layout plan without the prior approval of the Central Government. It is further submitted that ACP Tollways has violated Para 19 by not fixing 54ft high pillars on the reverted forest land after passing of several years and blaming falsely the Forest Department for non-cooperation."
4. The report submitted by the joint Committee and the DFO reveals the serious violations of Environment Protection Rules by contractor.
5. Learned Counsel appearing for the State had submitted that actions are being taken by the persons who have violated the conditions. We direct the MoEF&CC to examine the matter and take action according to law, in addition to calculation and realization of environmental compensation. Further, in case of violation and constructions against the conditions in violation Eco-Sensitive Zone, structure, if requires to be demolished, must be demolished and remedial measures be taken according to the rules. Further action taken report be filed by the MoEF&CC and NHAI within two months by e-mail at judicial- [email protected] preferably in the form of searchable PDF/OCR Support PDF and not in the form of Image PDF.
6. List the matter for further consideration on 06.11.2023.
7. A copy of this order be forwarded to MoEF&CC and NHAI by e-mail for compliance.
Sheo Kumar Singh, CP 3 Arun Kumar Tyagi, JM Dr. A. Senthil Vel, EM August 22, 2023 Original Application No. 636/2022 (I.A. No. 176/2023 & I.A. No. 421/2023) DV 4