Karnataka - Mysore   

Ropeway: NOC sought without filing EIA report

— PHOTO: M.A. SRIRAM

In focus: A view of the Chamundi Hills in Mysore.

MYSORE: The conflicting views aired by the Government on the proposed ropeway at Chamundi Hills and the difference of opinion among the local elected representatives on the subject have added to the confusion over the actual status of the vexed project.

The confusion has been confounded by the information provided by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority that the project proponent has sought environmental clearance for the project but was yet to submit the environment impact assessment (EIA) report.

This means that the company, Sika Interplant Systems Ltd., which has been awarded the work, is preparing the grounds to implement the ropeway project to which there is widespread opposition from a cross-section of society, including elected representatives.

The news about the company having filed for a no objection certificate (NOC) came to light when Syed Tanveeruddin, an activist of the Karanji and Siddarthanagar Tax Payers’ Association, sought information pertaining to the project under the Right to Information Act.

Though the Department of Forests is yet to issue an NOC, according to the reply furnished by the authorities to Mr. Tanveeruddin, it is clear that the project has made sufficient progress by way of administrative clearance.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and environmentalists in the city now wonder if securing an NOC is a matter of formality to comply with the law as no public hearing or environmental impact assessment has been conducted at the project site.

The NGOs are peeved over the reply provided by the Authority which states that the “proponent has not submitted any environment impact assessment report”.

The NGOs wonder if it is right for the Government to depend on the EIA report to be filed by the company implementing the ropeway project. “It is the duty of the Government to get an independent assessment done and not depend on the reports filed by the contractors who cannot be expected to be objective in their assessment of environmental damage. They will only refer to the possible negative impact in a cursory manner and fill the report with mitigatory measures they intend to take without highlighting the problems. This being the case, the Authority should get an independent view of the project impact,” according to Mysore Amateur Naturalists (MAN), which is one of the NGOs opposed to the project.

Mr. Tanveeruddin pointed out that the company had not filed any application seeking consent for establishment under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 to the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) regarding construction of ropeway at Chamundi Hills. Hence even the KSPCB’s Mysore regional office had not issued any consent or an NOC to the firm, he said. Environmentalists have cautioned that these are mere technical issues and the company may receive consent on completion of the formalities. “Hence what is of importance is the need to get an EIA report done by an independent body of experts not attached to the project proponents and contractors,” according to MAN. The ropeway project has been opposed on the grounds that Chamundi Hills is a single hillock devoid of any steep gradient.

Apart from the erosion of green cover and destruction to the fragile ecosystem, the flora and fauna of Chamundi Hills can be severely impacted by the construction activity and suffer degradation, according to the NGOs.

The need of the hour is a buffer zone to prevent encroachment around Chamundi Hills and not a ropeway, according to the activists.

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