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And whereas, the Central Government took a serious view of continuing pollution of rivers and other water bodies and in order to control further deterioration of water quality in these water bodies, it is felt necessary that new projects relating to construction of new townships, industrial townships, settlement colonies, commercial complexes, hotel complexes, hospitals, office complexes for 1000 persons and above or discharging sewage of 50,000 litres / day and above or with an investment of Rs.50 crores and above and new industrial estates having an area of 50 hectares and above and the industrial estates irrespective of area if their pollution potential is high, are proposed to be brought under the purview of Environment Impact Assessment Notification:

(h) any industrial estate falling under entry 32 of Schedule I including industrial estates accommodating industrial units in an area of fifty hectares or below but excluding the industrial estates irrespective of area if their pollution potential is high;

Explanation :- Any project proponent intending to implement the proposed project under sub-paras (g) and (h) in a phased manner or in modules, shall be required to submit the detailed project report of the entire project covering all phases or modules for appraisal under Environment Impact Assessment Notification";

7. The Petitioners - I plead that College of Engineering, Guindy, which is affiliated to the Anna University and located within its premises, gets disturbed and has to be re-located elsewhere if construction of new Secretariat building is permitted and so also some other educational institutions and the students' hostel and also Science City proposed in G.O. No.64, dated 24.1.1995. The other ground taken is that the Government having announced plans to shift the Secretariat from the existing Fort Saint George to Thiruvidandhai Village on the East Coast Road and Thaiyyur Village on the Old Mahabalipuram Road and issued G.O. Ms. No.241 dated 19.9.2003, freezing all developments on the proposed site, cannot waste money now for a temporary Secretariat costing Rs.500 crores and wasting about 45 acres of land. They also contend that there is no necessity to shift the Secretariat from the present location, laying emphasis that it is a historic building with a new construction named 'Namakkal Kavignar Maaligai', added about 25 years back and that there is no explanation as to why a building constructed so recently, which is expected to last 100 years, has suddenly been discovered to be structurally unsound. A contention was also raised that the proposal of the Government places a huge burden on the public exchequer and that it is not cost-effective and that the petitioners are very much concerned about the financial impropriety in the present financial situation. They also go into the facts of indiscriminate borrowings and unprecedented growth in the fiscal and revenue deficits in the context of burden on the non-developmental expenditure resulting in complete depletion of cash reserves. Their concern is about the proposal of the Government to borrow Rs.500 crores for an unproductive construction and then further incur a cost of Rs.5 0 crores for demolishing the building constructed recently. Apart from the cost factors and also the necessity factor, the petitioners show the concern about the social and environmental impact on the ground that the Government did not consult all the stakeholders, especially the citizens concerned with the civic amenities and the students and teachers, and it would affect the city's lung space and also disturbance to the residential localities. Added to that, they project the impugned notification, which brings new projects relating to construction of new townships, industrial townships, settlement colonies, commercial complexes, hotel complexes, hospitals, office complexes for thousand persons and above or discharging sewage of fifty thousand litres a day and above or with an investment of Rs.50 crores and above and new industrial estates having an area of 50 hectares and above and industrial estates irrespective of areas, if their pollution potential is high, under the purview of Environment Impact Assessment notification. It is the contention of the petitioners that it is imperative for the Government to comply with the legal requirements before proceeding with the work of the construction of new Secretariat complex. They also assert that if such proposals are made, they are not likely to be approved.