NGT sets aside green clearance for expansion of project in Viman Nagar

SEIAA found that construction had been carried out with a different profile from the one approved under the earlier clearance

The Western Zonal Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has set aside the environmental clearance (EC) granted for the expansion of a residential and commercial project in Viman Nagar, citing deficiencies in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report. The tribunal said the report failed to provide point-wise responses to the Terms of Reference (ToR) prescribed for the project and was therefore erroneous.

The authority treated the construction as a violation of the earlier EC and the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006. (HT FILE)

A bench comprising Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh, Judicial Member, and Sujit Kumar Bajpayee, Expert Member, passed the order on Thursday while allowing an appeal challenging the EC granted by the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Maharashtra, on February 9, 2024.

The project had initially received environmental clearance in March 2019 for a total built-up area of 45,141.56 square metres. However, when an application was subsequently made for expansion, SEIAA found that construction had been carried out with a different profile from the one approved under the earlier clearance. The authority treated the construction as a violation of the earlier EC and the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006.

SEIAA subsequently directed the project proponent to apply under the standard operating procedure issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in July 2021 for projects involving violations.

SEIAA issued the ToR in April 2023. The project proponent later applied for environmental clearance for a plot area of 8,830 square metres, with an FSI area of 37,004.76 square metres and non-FSI area of 22,091.71 square metres. The total built-up area was 59,096.47 square metres.

During its scrutiny, SEAC assessed the penalty at ₹30.48 lakh and the damage assessment at ₹113.26 lakh. It also sought details of parking calculations and directed the project proponent to provide electric vehicle charging facilities. The committee further directed that recycled or tanker water, instead of drinking water, be used for construction.

SEAC recommended the proposal for environmental clearance, following which SEIAA accepted the recommendation and granted the EC in February 2024.

However, while examining the appeal, the NGT found deficiencies in the EIA report. It said an EIA study must address each condition prescribed under the ToR so that compliance can be assessed point by point.

The bench noted that the ToR contained numerous conditions, but the EIA report did not address all of them. It also found that the damage assessment cost and natural augmentation plan recorded during the SEAC proceedings had not been incorporated into the EIA report.

The tribunal further observed that the EIA report was only 28 pages long despite the extensive ToR requirements and did not contain point-wise responses to the conditions. On this basis, it held that the EIA report was erroneous and that the environmental clearance granted on its basis could not be sustained.

The tribunal also took note of an MPCB inspection conducted in September 2025, which found that four buildings of the project had been completed and occupied. Commercial shops were operational, while a 220 CMD sewage treatment plant and a 550 kg-per-day organic waste converter were also functioning. However, the project proponent had reportedly not initiated work under the remediation and natural and community resource augmentation plan at the time of the inspection.

The NGT has now set aside the February 9, 2024 environmental clearance and directed SEIAA to reconsider the application for ex-post facto clearance in accordance with law within two months of uploading of the order.