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Public hearing conducted by the concerned company prior to applying for environmental clearance is not a mere formality but a substantive requirement of law, held the National Green Tribunal.
Setting aside the green clearance accorded to a coal mining project of Jindal Steel and Power in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh, the Tribunal observed that the company had made a mockery of the public hearing. An examination of the video recording done by the pollution control board showed a restive audience breaking chairs and shouting slogans which was broken up by police force.
The project which was cleared by the Environment Ministry in May 2009 was thrown open to public debate in a purported public hearing a year earlier. The Green Tribunal apparently found that the public objections were not only glossed over but brutally silenced.
(The author is a New Delhi-based chartered accountant)
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