FEDERATION OF RAINBOW WARRIORS, MARGAO
Registration No. 190/Goa/2014
Shop CSH-1, Block C-2, Leandra Heritage,
Madel, Margao, Goa – 403601
Tel.
9822985629/8408960070
Ref No: 13/2015 Date: 03.03.2015
To
The Chief Secretary, Government of Goa,
The Secretariat, Porvorim, Goa
DEMAND FOR STRICT PUNITIVE ACTIONS AGAINST OFFICIALS RESPONSIBLE FOR ILLEGAL
PUBLIC HEARING
Dear Sir,
This is to bring to your urgent attention the fraudulent and irresponsible acts
of various senior officials involved in the conduct of Public Hearing regarding
the EIA Report for proposed Greenfield International Airport at Mopa, Pernem
taluka, Goa. The entire procedure was knowingly and intentionally conducted by
the officials without legal sanction, causing unnecessary tension and trauma to
those who stand to lose lands, water sources and livelihoods if the airport is
built. The illegal acts of the officials also resulted in huge losses of public
funds, government resources and time, fooled the people of the State into
unnecessary social unrest and trauma, and will cause serious loss of
credibility for the State administration, once made known to the public.
The facts and our arguments are submitted below for your kind perusal:
1. Chronological list of events:
a. 1st June 2011 - ToR is granted for the development of Greenfield
International Airport at MOPA, Goa by M/s. MOPA Airport, Goa1
b. Oct to Dec 2011 – Environmental data is collected by M/s EMTRC Lab, EMTRC
Consultants private limited, Ghaziabad (UP) to be given to the project
proponent, which is subsequently provided by the project proponent to Engineers
India Limited (EIL) as the baseline (primary) data for preparing the EIA
report2.
c. 22nd November 2012 – Proponent writes to MoEF seeking amendment &
extension of validity of ToR1
d. 19th June 2013 – MoEF grants extension of validity of ToR for one year up
to 31st May 20141
e. 8th October 2014 – EIA report is prepared by EIL for submission to Goa
State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) for Public Hearing3
f. 31st December 2015 – GSPCB announces that the public hearing for the EIA
report prepared for Mopa airport will be held on 1st February 2015 and places
the documents at selected locations for public scrutiny
g. 1st February 2015 – Public Hearing for the proposed Mopa airport is held
h. February 2015 – Director of Mopa Airport, Govt of Goa applies to MoEF&CC
for extension of validity of ToR and the application for renewal is placed on
the agenda for the 146th Meeting of EAC for infrastructure, CRZ,
building/construction & miscellaneous projects4
2. Outer limit of 3 years validity of ToRs lapsed on 1st June 2014
MoEF&CC’s Office Memorandum5 F. No. J-11013/41/2006-IA-II (I) (part) dated 22nd
August, 2014 regarding validity of ToRs refers to its earlier memorandum dated
22.03.2010 on the same subject as having prescribed a time limit for validity
of Terms of Reference (ToRs) for a period of two years for submission of EIA
and EMP reports after public consultation and also that this period would be
extendable to third year, based on proper justification and recommendation of
the EAC/SEAC, as the case may be. MoEF&CC further states, “Thus an outer limit
of three years for the validity of TORs has been prescribed for any
developmental project, except River Valley and HEP Projects, where the outer
limit validity of ToR is four years, as prescribed vide O.M. No
Z/11012/1/2013-IA.I (Pt.) dated 12.12.2013.” MoEF&CC clarifies the law by
stating under paragraph 2 of the memo “(i) The TORs prescribed for a project or
activity will be valid for a period of two years for submission of EIA and EMP
report, except for River Valley and HEP projects, where the validity of TORs
will be for three years. (ii) This period of validity could be extended by the
Regulatory Authority concerned by a maximum period of one year provided an
application is made by the applicant to the Regulatory Authority, at least
three months before the expiry of validity period, together with an updated
Form-I, based on proper justification and also recommendation of the EAC/SEAC.”
The MoEF goes on to state, “Extension of Validity of TORs beyond the outer
limit of three years for all projects or activities and four years for River
Valley and HEP projects shall not be considered by the Regulatory Authority.”
The proposal for the extension of the validity of ToR for development of
Greenfield International Airport at MOPA, Goa by M/s. MOPA Airport, Goa cannot
be considered by the EAC in view of the decision of the MoEF&CC stated in the
Office Memoranda referenced above, and the fact that the ToR crossed the outer
limit of 3 years and irretrievably lapsed on 1st June 2014.
3. EIA Report prepared after expiry of ToR
As the ToR expired on 1st June 2014, the EIA report prepared subsequently and
submitted to GSPCB after 08th October 2014 is without any legal sanction. The
project proponent, the EIA Consultant and GSPCB have grossly violated the law
by preparing the EIA report after expiry of both the ToR and the primary data.
The project proponent’s proposal for extension of the validity of the ToR is
not only outside the outer limit prescribed by the MoEF&CC, but must be
rejected summarily on account of the proponent’s actions of preparing an
unauthorised EIA report and holding an invalid Public Hearing.
4. EIA Report based on primary data more than 3 years old
The primary data (baseline data) used by EIL to prepare the EIA report was
collected by M/s EMTRC Lab, EMTRC Consultants private limited, Ghaziabad (UP)
in the period from October 2011 to December 2011. The EIA report was submitted
to GSPCB after 08.10.2014 and was made public after 1st January 2015. Parts of
the baseline data (collected before 07.10.2011) were already over three years
old by the time the EIA report was prepared on 08.10.2014 for submission to
GSPCB. By the time GSPCB published the dates of the Public Hearing and made the
EIA report public for review (first week of January 2015), the entire primary
data was over 3 years old. The law regarding validity of data is stated in the
Office Memorandum dated 22nd August, 2014 – “The aforesaid OM dated 22.03.2010
also clarifies that the primary data in the EIA/ EMP report submitted after
public consultation should not be more than three years old.” Baseline data
more than 3 years old cannot be used for preparing EIA report and a fresh ToR
will have to be obtained by the proponent, if he still desires to pursue the
project.
5. Public Hearing held after expiry of ToR
As the ToR expired on 1st June 2014, the GSPCB should not have held the Public
Hearing on 1st February 2015. The Office Memorandum F. No.
J-11013/41/2006-IA-II (I) (part) issued by the MoEF&CC on 22nd August, 2014
states, “The State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBS) shall ensure that the
public hearing (PH) is conducted within the timeline of 45 days as prescribed
in the EIA Notification, 2006. The SPCBs shall also ensure that PH is held
within the validity period of the TORs, and that no PH is held after the
validity period of TORs is over. The PH conducted after the expiry of the TORs
shall not be accepted by the Regulatory Authority for appraisal. The PH should
be held well before the expiry of validity of TORs so that EIA/EMP reports are
submitted by proponent within the validity period of TORs.” The GSPCB has
grossly violated its duties by holding the Public Hearing much after the expiry
of the ToR, despite having knowledge that the Hearing was without legal
sanction.
6. Serious flaws in baseline data, EIA Report and conduct of Public Hearing
The entire procedure adopted by the project proponent, including the submission
of Form I and pre-feasibility report, data collection, EIA report preparation
and conduct of Public Hearing have been seriously tainted by grossly fraudulent
data, failure to apply mind and negligence. Some of the flaws in the EIA report
and baseline data are described in our letter submitted at the time of the
Public Hearing. The conduct of the Public Hearing is documented by the video
recordings of the hearing available with GSPCB.
7. Fresh ToR required due to inadequacy of earlier ToR and substantial
change in environmental, economic and social data
The Western Ghats adjoining the proposed airport have lost large areas of
pristine forests in recent years due to mining, dams and plantations. The
result is that the Mopa plateau and the forests on its steep slopes have become
home to large numbers of displaced endangered animals, adding to the resident
populations. At the same time, the vast agricultural lands on the plateau and
the agricultural lands on the surrounding slopes adjoining the perennial
springs have grown sharply in importance due to the advent of Tillari dam, and
the simultaneously increasing water scarcity in the State. As a result, the
ground reality today is much different from what it was three years ago.
Additionally, the ToR is based on incorrect submissions by the project
proponent in Form I and the pre-feasibility report, resulting in missing out of
many critical elements of the study, including the study of the rare and
endemic species in the monsoons, the complete omission of the hydro-geological
significance of the plateau and the unforgivable omission of the 40 odd
perennial springs emanating from the plateau (the ToR mentions a pond 5kms
away, when large perennial springs are present just on the edges of the
plateau!). In any case, if the proponent still wishes to continue with the
project, he must start the process de novo as directed by the MoEF&CC, on
account of the expiry of the ToR.
8. Illegal Acts of the authorities
a. Director of Mopa Airport
i. As the project proponent, the Director of Mopa Airport is fully
responsible for the fiasco described above. All the acts of the Director of
Mopa Airport after 01.06.2014 are without legal sanction and abortive in
nature. The Director of Mopa Airport should have stopped the work of the EIA
consultant on 01.06.2014, when the ToR expired. The Director of Mopa Airport is
therefore directly responsible for the unnecessary cost incurred by the
Government, waste of resources and time, amounting to crores of rupees. The
Director of Mopa Airport is also responsible for the cost, mental trauma,
stress, waste of time and insecurity caused to the local population.
b. Chairman and Member Secretary, GSPCB
i. The role of the GSPCB is described in paragraph 5 above. GSPCB has
grossly violated the direction issued by MoEF&CC and is directly responsible
for holding the Public Hearing despite the directions of the MoEF&CC.
c. Collector, North Goa
i. The Collector of North Goa grossly abdicated her duties by failing to
ensure the legality of the Public Hearing she was required to preside over. The
Collector is also responsible for the conduct of the illegal Public Hearing.
The Collector was personally involved in the preparations for the Public
Hearing, including construction of the approach road, temporary constructions
and utilities such as the seating and pandal, stage, toilets, power supply,
refreshments, large number of staff, transport and hundreds of police
personnel. Crores of rupees were thus wasted to host an illegal event and
create social conflicts and trauma.
Our demand:
In the view of the gross dereliction of duties by the authorities resulting in
huge losses to the public and the exchequer, and the adverse impact on the
image of the government, we demand that:
1. The Director of Mopa Airport, Member Secretary of GSPCB and Collector of
North Goa be suspended immediately, strict disciplinary action be initiated
against them, and all the costs incurred after 1st June 2014 be recovered from
them.
2. A Public declaration be made that both the EIA Report and the Public
Hearing held on 01.02.2015 are null and void.
3. A high level independent inquiry be commissioned to expose the nexus of
vested interests responsible for the serious breakdown in administration and
compromise of integrity of senior officials.
Thanking you,
Abhijit Prabhudesai and others
