See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/314076987

Environmental Clearance of Statue of Unity Project of Gujarat - A Case Study

Conference Paper · February 2014

CITATIONS READS

0 12,338

2 authors, including:

Dr K N Sheth
Gujarat Technological University
100 PUBLICATIONS   140 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Green buildings as sustainable buildings as a part of smart cities project View project

Removal of reactive dyes using impregnated ecofriendly adsorbents View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Dr K N Sheth on 26 February 2017.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289326635

Environmental Clearance of Statue of Unity

Project of Gujarat - A Case Study

Data · January 2016

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.2808.8407

CITATIONS READS

0 13

2 authors, including:

Dr K N Sheth
Geetanjali Institute of Technical Studies (GITS)
82 PUBLICATIONS 12 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Green buildings as sustainable buildings as a part of smart cities project View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Dr K N Sheth on 05 January 2016.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Environmental Clearance of Statue of Unity Project
of Gujarat- A Case Study
Dr K N Sheth"1, Dr K C Raval"2
"'Director, Venus International College of Technology Bhoyan Rathod, Gandhinagar (India)

#2Director, University School of Law,

Gujarat University, Ahmedabad (India)

Abstract— Environmental law refers to rules and regulations In the Constitution of India it is clearly stated that it is the
governing human conduct likely to affect the environment. It duty of the state to ‘protect and improve the environment and
reflects the legislative measures, and the administrative and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country’. It
judicial structures to protect the environment. However, it is imposes a duty on every citizen ‘to protect and improve the
difficult to define precisely the boundaries of environmental law
Natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, and
in the same way as we define, say the law of contract. The statue
of Unity Project was first announced on 7lh October, 2010 is a wildlife’. Reference to the environment has also been made in
monument of 182 meter of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel facing the Directive Principles of State Policy as well as the
Narmada Dam, 3.2 km away on the river island Sadhu bet of Fundamental Rights. The Department of Environment was
Narmada river near Bharuch in Gujarat is facing trouble established in India in 1980 to ensure a healthy environment
Around 50 environmentalists from across the country have for the country. This later became the Ministry of
written to the Union Environment Ministry that Chief Minister Environment and Forests in 1985 j 21
Narcndra Modi’s pet project, Statue of Unity, downstream of
Sardar Sarovar Dam and Shoolpaneshar Sanctuary, has The constitutional provisions are backed by a number of
commenced working without environment approval. This paper
laws — Acts, Rules, and Notifications. The Environment
investigates the environmental issues associated with this mega
project as no public consultation has been conducted as regards Protection Act, 1986 came into force soon after the Bhopal
environmental Impact assessment Environmental Impact Gas Tragedy and is considered an umbrella legislation as it
Assessment Notification 2006 is a major tool to regulate rapid fills many gaps in the existing laws. Thereafter a large number
industrial development of the country for minimizing the of laws came into existence as the problems began arising, for
adverse impact on environment and reversing the trends which example, Handling and Management of Hazardous Waste
may lead to climate change in long run. State government has no Rules in 1989.
right to violate the EIA Notification.
The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 authorizes the
Index— EIA, Unity of Statue, Environmental clearance, EIA
central government to protect and improve environmental
Notification
quality, control and reduce pollution from all sources, and
I. INTRODUCTION prohibit or restrict the setting and /or operation of any
During the recent years there has been increasing industrial facility on environmental grounds.
awareness of and concern about pollution all over the world
and continuous efforts are made towards achieving sustainable 1986 - The Environment (Protection) Rules lay down
exploitation of resources internationally. It is widely agreed procedures for setting standards of emission or discharge of
that a properly developed policy framework is a key element environmental pollutants.
in the sound management of pollution control.
The environmental Protection Act, 1986 is an ‘Umbrella’
With the population approaching over 1,170 million, India Act enacted by the national parliament. This Act empowers
ranks in second in the number of inhabitants amongst the the Government to take all necessary measures to protect
countries of the world. Due to the liberalization processes in control and abate environmental pollution.
India, the international trade has increased. This has also led
increased environmental pollution. The Act identifies the MoEF, Government of India as the
apex nodal agency to deal with environmental problems of
India is a federal republic comprising of 27 states and 7 nation so that an integrated and holistic policy can be
Union territories. There is a strict division of tasks between implemented with regard to the environment.
the state and federal Government. Policy areas on the state list
are the exclusive responsibility of the States. Other areas are The scope of this Act is very broad covering water, Air,
jointly administered by the two levels of Government. Land and human beings and other living creatures. The main
‘Environment’ is among this ‘Concurrent List’ policy areas.[I1 functions of MoEF are:

Proceedings of MonTeC-2014 organized by HGCE, Ahmedabad on 27-28 Feb, 2014 (ISBN: 978-81-929173-0-6) 115
 • Coordination o f the activities of various central and state environmental planning and coordination was set up under the
authorities established under the previous Acts; 4th five year plan (1969- 1978). Till 1980, the subjects of
• Laying down emission/ effluent standard for various environment and forests were the concern of the Dept of
industrial activities; Science and Technology and Ministry of Agriculture
• Powers to get information about the industrial process respectively.
and to inspect the plant, premises, records and other
necessary materials including seizure of the documents; Later, the issues were formally attended by the Dept of
• Giving direction for closure, prohibition or regulation of Environment which was established in 1980. This was then
industrial processes as necessary and upgraded to the Ministry of Environment & Forest in 1985. In
• Stoppage or regulation of the supply of water and 1980, clearance of large projects from the environmental angle
electricity or any other services to industries violating became an administrative requirement to the extent that the
pollution standards. planning commission and the central investment board sought
proof of such clearance before according financial sanction.
In terms of responsibilities, the Act and the associated
Rules requires for obtaining environmental clearances for Five year later, the Dept of Environment and Forests,
specific types of new / expansion projects (addressed under Government of India had issued guidelines for Environmental
Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 1994) and for Assessment of river valley projects. These guidelines require
submission of an environmental statement to the State various studies such as impacts on forests and wild life in the
Pollution Control Board annually. Environmental clearance is submergence zone, water logging potential, upstream and
not applicable to hydro projects also. The requirement for downstream aquatic ecosystems and fisheries, water related
conducting environmental impact assessment (EIA) for all diseases, climatic changes and seismicity.
proposed economic development projects/activities in India is
based in law -Environmental Protection Act 1986. A major legislative measures for the purpose of
environmental clearance was in 1994 when specific
“Environmental Impact Assessment’^ EIA ) can be as the notification was issued under section 3 and rule 5 of the
systematic identification and evaluation of the potential environment protection Act , 1986 called the “Environment
impacts of proposed projects, plan, programs or legislative impact Assessment Notification 1994”.
actions relative to the physical-chemical, biological, cultural
and socio economic components of the total environment The first step in seeking environmental clearance for a
(Canter, 1996). Environmental Impact Assessment is the development project is to determine what statutory legislations
official appraisal of the likely effects of a proposed policy apply to the particular project. The MOEF has brought out
program or project on the environment, alternatives to the several notifications restricting the development of industries
proposal and measures to be adopted to protect the in specified ecologically sensitive areas. In addition there are
environment.[3] also draft rules framed for the siting of industries.

EIA is an exercise to be carried out before any project or Environmental clearance for development projects can be
major activity is undertaken to ensure that it will not in any obtained either at the state level or at the central level
way harm the environment on a short term or long term basis. depending on certain criteria concerning the characteristics of
An EIA concentrate on problems, conflicts and natural the project. However (regardless of where the final
resource constraints which might affect the viability of a environmental clearance is obtained from), for most projects
project. It also predicts how the project could harm to people, the consent must first be taken from the state pollution control
their homeland, their livelihoods, and the other nearby board or pollution control committees in the case of union
developmental activities. After predicting potential impacts, territories.
the EIA identifies measures to minimize the impacts and
suggests ways to improve the project viability. [41 E n v ir o n m e n t a l I m p a c t A s s e s s m e n t N o t if ic a t io n
2006
The role for EIA was formally recognized at the earth The Environmental Impact Assessment has been used as a
summit held at Rio conference in 1992. Principle 17 of the management tool to minimize adverse impacts of the
Rio declaration states that “EIA as a national instrument shall developmental projects on the environment and to achieve
be undertaken for the proposed activities that are likely to sustainable development through timely, adequate, corrective
have significant adverse impact on the environment and are and protective mitigation measures. The Ministry of
subject to a decision of a competent national authority”. Environment and Forests (MoEF) has used Environmental
Impact Assessment Notification 2006 as a major tool to
In India many of the developmental projects till as recently regulate rapid industrial development of the country for
as the 1980s were implemented with very little or no minimizing the adverse impact on environment and reversing
environmental concerns. The environmental issues began the trends which may lead to climate change in long run.
receiving attention when a national committee on

Proceedings of MonTeC-2014 organized by HGCE, Ahmedabad on 27-28 Feb, 2014 (ISBN: 978-81-929173-0-6) 116
 Environmental Ministry has said that they are looking into
the issue. In a couple of days, ministry will decide whether to
send an inquiry team to Gujarat or issue a notice to the State
Government.
A 10 — member delegation headed by Shri Ganpatsinh
Vasava, Minister of Gujarat Forest & Environment will meet
Governor SC Jamir and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and
seek their support for the project.

C o n c l u s io n

The project requires environmental clearance from the

competent authority. As has been done in recent cases of
Adani in SEZ Kutch, the work should be immediately stopped
and recommenced after getting environmental clearance. State
government has no right to violate the EIA Notification.

R eferences

[1] Dr Suresh Mane,” Constitutional Provisions for Environmental

Protection" Proceedings of Seminar on Environmental
Jurisprudence and Justice Delivery System, Academic Staff
College, National Law School of University, Bangalore, 2003
[2] Kagzi and M C Jain, “The Constitution o f India" vol I and II India
New Law House, New Delhi
[3] Canter Larry W “Environmental Impact Assessment" 2nd edition,
McGraw Hill MC, USA, 1996
[4] Anna Murthy & Himanshu Sekhar Patra, “Environmental Impact
Assessment process in India and the Drawbacks" Environmental
Conservation Team, Vasundhara, Bhubaneshwar
[5] .“ World’s tallest statue coming up in Gujarat”, Daily News and
Analysis. Oct 7, 2010.
[6] .“Gujarat : Sardar Pate! Statue to be twice the size o f statue o f
liberty" CNNIBN Oct
30,2013. http://www.stateofunity.in/tendemotice.html
[7] “Gujarat's Statue o f Unity to cost Rs.25 billion” Daily news and
analysis. June 8, 2012.
[8] “Gujarat High Court rejects PIL Challenging Construction of
‘Statue of Unit’.
[9] “India : concerned citizens seek environmental scrutiny o f
Project called “Statue o f Unity" planned inside Narmada River”,
7 Nov. 2013 South India Citizen web :
www.sacw.net/article6131 .html
[10] “Patel’s Statue o f Unity’ faces opposition from
environmentalists, 10th Nov, 2013 on India News.
[11] ‘The Policy Statement on Environmental clearance’
envfor.nic.in/divisions/ issue/emcb/chapter. 1 pdf page I to 6.

Proceedings of MonTeC-2014 organized by HGCE, Ahmedabad on 27-28 Feb, 2014 (ISBN: 978-81-929173-0-6) 118

View publication stats