Six-lane Mumbai-Pune expressway hits environmental block

MUMBAI, Sept 28: The ambitious Rs 1,500 cr six-lane expressway to Pune appears to be facing rough weather. The Ministry of Environment and ...

MUMBAI, Sept 28: The ambitious Rs 1,500 cr six-lane expressway to Pune appears to be facing rough weather. The Ministry of Environment and Forest is still to issue the necessary no objection certificate’ to get the project underway.

The bone of contention appears to be 12 hectares of prime forest land acquired by the Public Works Department for the project. A five-member team of experts headed by Wild Life Research Institute (Dehradun) director S K Mukherjee has made known their strong reservations on the issue to the State Government in no uncertain terms. It was felt when private land was available to be aquired, it was not in the interests of the ecology to destroy prime forest land.

The committee on September 23 and 24 held discussions with Chief Secretary P Subramanian and officials of the Public Works and Environment Departments, office bearers of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and visited the proposed road sites on the Mumbai-Pune national highway.

The Mukherjee committee has reportedly recommended realignment of the proposed road, particularly between Bhatan and Adeshi villages. “There should be reassement of environmental impact after realignment of the section between Bhatan and Adeshi,” the committee told the state government.

Secondly, the committee has asked the state to set up a Conservation, Research and Breeding Centre for the endangered wild life species in the Father Santpau Sanctuary.

A senior official told this paper that will take at least two to three months to complete the exercise – reassesment of impact on ecology after realignment and setting up of research centre and till then, the Centre is unlikely to grant NOC.

On August 26, at a meeting between Prime Minister I K Gujral and Chief Minister Manohar Joshi at New Delhi, the former had given specific instructions to the Ministry of Environment and Forest to grant NOC for the project latest by October 1. Joshi had then urged the Prime Minister that if it was not possible to grant NOC for one or the other reason, then the Centre should atleast grant conditional clearance.

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Joshi had then even expressed displeasure over the manner in which the Ministry of Environment and Forest was tackling the issue. After the government submitted a revised proposal in 1995, Joshi had personally called on the Prime Minister to impress upon him the need to clear the multicrore project. “Despite Gujral’s instructions, there was absolutely no change in the attitude of the Ministry of Environment and Forest,” the official said.

On the other hand, Union Minister of State for Environment and Forest Saiffudin Soz has taken the view that there was no question of clearing the project unless there is realignment of the proposal on the ground that the road goes through the Father Santapau Sanctuary.

Secondly, if the trees on the prime forest land acquired for project are cut, it will endanger two rare animals – the malabar giant squirrel and mouse deer. The survival of these animals is associated with specific plant species.

The official said Soz has asked his ministry to seek specific assurance from the alliance government on these issues.

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The Mukherjee committee is now expected to submit its report to the Ministry of Environment and Forest, but as things stand the mandatory NOC may not be forthcoming unless the state governmennt agrees to implement thhe panel’s recommendations.