The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) notified by the Environment Ministry in July 2021 laid out the policy for identification and handling of violation cases with two possible outcomes. Under the SOP, each case of violation is assessed to determine if the project is permissible under the law and can be run sustainably with adequate safeguards. If yes, the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) prescribes a remediation plan, along with a fine. If not, closure of the project is recommended along with penal actions. In August 2018, records show, the EAC (Violation) denied ex-post facto clearance to six limestone mines for their proximity to Barda Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat. In most cases, though, violations were recorded only to be condoned. On 15 MTPA Pakri Barwadih coal mine run by NTPC Ltd in Jharkhand, for example, the EAC (Coal) noted that the developer already obtained three amendments to EC for extending the timeline for transportation of coal by road and cautioned it for concealing the Supreme Court’s direction on switching to a closed belt conveyor system. However, noting that coal supply to many critical thermal power plants ensures the regular electricity supply in the country, the EAC recommended another extension of the mine’s EC. On renewal of EC for a 2x350MW thermal power plant project in Odisha, for example, the EAC noted that developer Ind-Barath Energy (Utkal) Ltd, a subsidiary of JSW Energy, started construction on forest land before the grant of forest clearance (FC). But the project was cleared with the observation that no “condition is mentioned in the EC regarding obtaining of (sic) FC before starting the project construction work.” A second chance to come clean did not always have the sobering effect on the developers. For example, when the EAC (Coal) considered the proposal for expansion of Jalagam Vengala Rao opencast mine in Telangana by Singareni Collieries Company Limited, it found that the company violated the conditions of EC granted “under violation category by excess production.” Between March 2017 and January 2024, till the July 2021 notification was stayed by the Supreme Court in January this year, the Union Environment Ministry had cleared over 100 projects. Some of the approved violation cases include a greenfield airport being developed by the Karnataka government at Vijayapura, the Lower Orr hydel project of the National Water Development Agency near Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh, enhancing production at a pesticide factory in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri run by Godrej Agrovet Limited, expansion of Leela hotel in Delhi’s Chanakyapuri, and the residential-cum-training complex for Special Protection Group in Delhi’s Dwarka. The next hearing of the challenge to the post-facto clearance regime before the SC is due in the first week of March.
