Tunnelling loophole might impact Mumbai’s hills, fear activists
Parsik Hill near Navi Mumbai. FILE PIC/ATUL KAMBLE
In a setback to environmentalists pushing for the protection of India’s fragile hill ecosystems, the Union government has stated that road projects involving hill tunnelling do not require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
The Centre’s position emerged from a response given by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by the Navi Mumbai based NGO NatConnect Foundation.
Green activist BN Kumar who is the director of the environmental organisation, in his RTI, had asked details of environmental clearance for the '2,100-crore Kharghar–Turbhe Link Road (KTLR), which cuts twin 1.8-km tunnels through the ecologically sensitive Kharghar–Parsik hill stretch near Pandavkada in Navi Mumbai.
Citing the EIA Notification, 2006, the ministry in the RTI response stated that only National Highways and State Highways require prior environmental clearance, and that tunnels are not covered separately under the notification.
Environmentalists warn that the ministry’s position effectively throws hills open to rampant drilling and cutting, potentially allowing mining activity to be carried out under the same exemption, and inevitably harming hill biodiversity.
Kumar cited tunnel collapses in Uttarakhand and Telangana “Yet, instead of correcting regulatory blind spots, hills are being exploited with no environmental checks,” he added.
2100 cr
Budget of Kharghar-Turbhe Link Road being built on Parsik Hill
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