In a blow to Greens, SC okays Infra projects in Mumbai’s Aarey Colony

A total of 407 acres in the green Aarey Colony in suburban Mumbai, roughly the size of 18 Oval Maidans, can now be used for infrastructure & building construction projects.

On Tuesday, in a setback to city environmentalists, the Apex Court turned down a plea by NGO Vanashakti & its director Stalin Dayanand against an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT). In Jan, the tribunal had upheld a 2016 order of the ministry of environment, forest & climate change (MoEF) to exclude 407 acres of over 15,000 acres notified as an Ecologically Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. 

In its appeal before the Supreme Court, Vanashakti said on Jan 24, 2020, that the Green Tribunal bench disposed of its case without hearing the 2 parties & in their absence.

The environment ministry, while justifying the reduced ESZ, had informed the National Green Tribunal that the State Govt had proposed the Metro rail shed in the Aarey land & excluded some slums from such a zone. 

Challenging the tribunal’s order before the Supreme Court, the NGO said the NGT had “failed to consider that the excluded plot is a heavily forested land that boasts of trees of indigenous species & has varied flora & fauna”.

The NGO also said allowing construction inside an ESZ will cause “irreparable harm to the highly sensitive ecology of the region which harbours 1,300 species of flowering plants, 45 species of mammals, 43 species of reptiles, 300 species of birds & 150 species of butterflies” & “thereby impact the entire biodiversity of the park”.

However, on Tuesday, the Top Court bench of Justice Arun Mishra & Justice Abdul Nazeer observed that Mumbai was “a congested city” & Metro was important, & dismissed the NGO’s appeal.

Vanashakti said while its challenge was before the NGT, western zone, in Pune, the case was however transferred to the NGT, principal bench, at New Delhi. On January 24, the tribunal passed an ex-parte order without hearing it & “without any application of mind”. It “summarily disposed” the case by accepting the ministry’s affidavit justifying the ESZ reduction.

The Tribunal bench after citing from an MoEF affidavit, had in its order said “no further order is necessary”. The ministry had said “the ESZ size was reduced after following due procedure of law & any new construction is allowed as per zonal master plan”.

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