The State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) has issued Environment Clarence (EC) for the Construction of Interim Government Complex, Amaravati in Sy.Nos.196 to 200,204 to 209,214,216. 2B Velagapudi (V), Tulluru(M), Guntur District (AP). In order to make the government function from Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh government proposes to build an ad hoc secretariat on 45 ac of land at a cost of Rs 180 cr. As the EC has been issued , the government can now go ahead with laying foundation stone-one more celebration- for the temporary complex. However, questions are raised whether guidelines were properly followed while issuing the EC for construction of government complex.
The SEIAA took the decision on agenda item no 78.12 at its 78th meeting held on February 9,2016. However, the EIA report and supporting documents have been kept out of bounds for the public. These documents have not been uploaded into websites of SIEAA or Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board.
This lapse has been brought to the notice of S Balasubramanyam, chairman, SEIAA, Andhra Pradesh by former union power secretary Dr EAS Sarma through a letter written on Saturday.
“Under Section 4 of the RTI Act, since these are public documents, they should have been uploaded into the public domain for information to the people, especially those in and around the capital city project. Even under the Environment (Protection) Act and the notifications issued from time to time, the said documents ought to have been disclosed to the public. Non-compliance with this requirement, in my view, has prejudiced the environment impact appraisal process and introduced an element of illegalitym” Dr Sarma, known for his fight against destruction of wet lands in Andhra Pradesh, said in the letter.
He said making unavailable the minutes of SEIAA at the 77th and 78th and the 87th & 88th meetings amounts to keeping the people in the dark about the project and the decision to issue an EC was a summary one without any application of mind.
“Environment Impact Appraisal cannot be treated as a ritual to be fulfilled without evaluating the impact of the project on the local environment and its socio-economic impact on the people. Apparently, from what I see from your website, those aspects have not been examined at all,” Dr Sarma said.
“You will appreciate that the EC issued ealier by SEIAA for the larger capital city project, vide SEIAA/AP/GTN-151/2015 dated 9-10-2015, has stipulated several important conditions precedent to its operation. To the best of my knowledge, several of those conditions are yet to be fulfilled. Moreover, the present interim capital city project cited above cannot introduce any changes that are inconsistent with the EC for the larger capital city project extending over 217.23 sq km area,” the letter said.
Dr Sarma requested SEIAA not to lose sight of the concerns and review its decision to issues the Environmental clearance.
