Green ministry U-turn on pro-Ganga stand over development ‘unfriendly’ eco-rules

Environment and water resources ministries had submitted a joint affidavit to the NGT, saying only a 100 km stretch was left “pristine”. Now the green ministry withdrew its consent.

Published on: Dec 26, 2016, 22:31:20 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

In a U-turn, the environment ministry raised red flag over a joint affidavit with the water resources ministry for declaring 100 kilometers of Ganga in Uttarakhand as pristine on Monday, a week after the consensus document was submitted to the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

The Uttarakhand government has been seeking changes in eco-rules. The environment ministry agreed to diluting them, evoking a strong response from Water Resources secretary Shashi Shekhar. (HT FILE PHOTO)

The joint affidavit was submitted after the tribunal pulled up the two ministries for the slow pace of implementation of eco-sensitive zone spread over 4,700 sqkm in the upper reaches of Ganga.

The eco-rule notified in 2012 prohibited construction of dams bigger than 2 MW and other infrastructure projects that could adversely impact the fragile ecosystem.

The rule asked the Uttarakhand government to prepare zonal management plan within two years to ensure free flowing Ganga, but the state has been seeking modifications of stringent norms in the eco-zone notification.

In August this year, the environment ministry agreed to diluting the notification to allow hydro projects up to 25 MW and wider roads, evoking a strong response from Water Resources secretary Shashi Shekhar.

As the contradiction between the ministries was brought to the notice of the NGT, the tribunal sought a response from the Centre.

Read: NGT directs authorities to act against units polluting Ganga

On December 21, the environment and water resources ministries submitted a joint affidavit trashing the Uttarakhand government’s zonal plan, saying it was “incomplete” and “non-compliant” with provisions of eco-rule described as “pro-development”.

Stating that 2,500 km of Ganga had been exploited, the affidavit said only this 100 km was left “pristine”, and suggested setting up of an expert committee to prepare a “comprehensive” zonal plan as per “spirit” of the eco-zone notification.

However, at a meeting called on direction of the NGT, the environment ministry withdrew its consent to the affidavit. “We don’t agree with it,” two of the three ministry officials present at a meeting said.

They did not give reasons but cited the August meeting in which the green ministry had suggested changes in the eco rule, sources said.

A senior water resources ministry confirmed the development, saying he will raise the issue with senior environment ministry officials. The environment ministry was represented by mid-level officials at the meeting chaired by Shekhar.

Water resources minister Uma Bharti had been at loggerheads with her environment counterparts since the NDA government came to power in 2014 on ensuring unhindered flow of Ganga in Uttarakhand. This is the latest round of fight between the two ministries.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

Follow India news real-time updates and the latest news covered on Hindustan Times, featuring today's critical updates on Sonam Wangchuk LIVE and more across India.