The Bombay High Court on Wednesday admitted a PIL by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Mayank Gandhi and Anjali Damania and activists Ajay Mathankar and Brian Lobo seeking an independent inquiry into sanctioning of dam projects in Konkan division, citing irregularities in the sanction of the underconstruction Kondhane dam project over Ulhas river. The petitioners alleged that RTI inquires revealed no clearances were sought from the environment and archeological departments before the project began, even as 216 hectares of forest would be affected and Kondhane Caves, a Nationally Protected Monument of the Archaeological Survey of India, were located within the catchment area of the dam. A government order in May 2011 had provided conditional administrative approval to build a Minor Irrigation Dam in Kondhane for Rs 80.35 crore, the PIL stated. The petitioners submitted that through a letter dated May 26, 2011, a technical sanction was sought from Konkan Irrigation Development. “Right from clearances not being taken to gross irregularities in the tendering process to suit certain contractors, the irrigation department has violated several norms. The local MLA and attached contractors also offered us money for our piece of land, which is also affected by the project, in return for withdrawing the PIL. We have audio recordings of these conversations, which we will produce before court. We had filed the PIL in 2012 and it was admitted in court on Wednesday,” said Damania, who along with Mathankar owns pieces of land in the project-affected area. The PIL affidavit stated that the state government had been setting up dams, in particular the Kondhane dam, without any prior or subsequent sanction from suitable authority set up under the Maharashtra Water Regulatory Authority Act, under which each dam project on any river within Maharashtra required to be in consonance with the master plan as also sanctioned by the authority. The petitioners have alleged that no need-based study was conducted, no impact assessment was made and no technical clearance of any nature was done before or even after sanctioning the dam, adding that no proper assessment of drinking water, irrigation water and water of industrial use through the river basin of the Ulhas River had been done ever since the last report of Chitale Commission in 1982, the recommendations of which are completely flouted by this project. According to the PIL, the construction of the dam began without the permission of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), railway authorities and Archeological Survey of India, despite the fact that large tract of forest land and monuments would be affected, and the dam was close to a railway line. The region where the dam is sought to be constructed is under forest cover and is the site for a protected Ancient Monument. The Central Railway line between Mumbai and Pune runs through this area. Apart from this, three tribal villages — Ambarwadi, Turicha Tek and Mundewadi — are located on the banks of Ulhas River. mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com
