NGT notice to govt on Statue of Unity

VADODARA: The Pune bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT), Western Zone, issued a notice to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Rashtriya Ekta Trust (SVPRET) and others regarding the Statue of Unity project at Narmada district’s Kevadia village. City-based activists had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) on March 23 stating that the project evades the Environmental (Protection) Act 1986 and The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules 2010.
During the first hearing on April 9, the NGT issued notice to six respondents namely SVPRET, Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd, Government of Gujarat, State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and L&T Ltd.
They were asked to submit a reply on Thursday. The state government asked for more time and the NGT asked them to submit the final report on May 8.
According to the PIL, the project — which also includes three-star Shreshtha Bharat Bhavan hotel, convention centre, a man-made lake, roads and other infrastructure projects — is being built 3.2km away from the Sardar Sarovar Dam in the downstream and will add to the already burdened tectonic fault-line in Narmada river. The frequent earthquakes and flooding in the area raise concern about the project’s longevity and safety of the tourists, the activists said.
The work of levelling the Sadhubet Tekri to lay the foundations for the statue’s pedestal and hotel complex is already underway. The PIL seeks orders to immediately halt all work on the project and initiate legal action.
“It is abundantly clear that the project is not simply the construction of a ‘mute monument’. But it is an elaborate tourism project, which includes its principal component — a 182 metre-tall iron statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The environmental clearance required under the Environment Impact Assessment Notification of 2006 has not been sought for any component of this elaborate project,” said principal applicant Trupti Shah.
In an RTI reply of 2014, the SVPRET said the project needs no environmental clearance as the ‘statue’ will be spread over 12,000 square feet which is less than the regulated 20,000 square feet rule.
However, activists said, the project will include the development of banks of Narmada river up to Bharuch district, development of road, rail and tourist infrastructure, schools, colleges and universities for tribal development, education research centre and knowledge city and tourism corridor from Garudeshwar to Bhadbhut.
“The project will involve extensive construction work in an active riverbed of a perennial river and falls within the critical wetlands area. The safety and disaster management component of the project has also been dealt with casually, which is shocking since the project is on an active tectonic plate in a faultline area which is already burdened by Sardar Sarovar Dam and its massive reservoir,” said another applicant Rohit Prajapati.