NEW DELHI: The environmental clearance report which got the nod from both the Centre and the state government for the seven redevelopment projects in South Delhi has many discrepancies and one of such is that the mammals like dogs, cows and monkeys were listed under the birds which are popular in these areas. The Nauroji Nagar redevelopment project's clearance report accessed by the Millennium Post showed that the name of nearby water bodies was also not of Delhi but of Tamil Nadu. Based on these report, activists challenged the environment clearance in the Delhi High Court and the HC has stalled the project.
To execute the project, the NBCC hired Hubert, a Chennai-based company. According to the law, every environment clearance report should accommodate the list of animals, birds, flora, and fauna of the area on which the report is based. In the case of the Nauroji Nagar's report, the table no 3-31 is a "List of common birds found in the region". However, the first part of the table noted as "Mammals" and under this, it has cow, cat, dog, monkey etc.
Moreover, the table which is listed as the list of birds also includes reptiles and at last the birds. "It is not a simple mistake, this shows how the government and the agencies look at the natural habitat. They do not even bother to make a separate list for animals, reptiles, and birds," said an expert.
The report also has a section named water environment where the names of the water bodies mentioned are not from Delhi but from Tamil Nadu. "The prevailing status of water quality at eight sampling locations each for groundwater and surface water has been assessed during October 2015 to December 2015 are presented in Table 3-15.
The eight (08) surface water samples consist of the Vellanguli lake (ENE), Kallidai Lake (ENE), Singampatti Lake (WSW), Manimutharu Dam (WSW), Thamirabarani River d/s (WNW), Thamirabarani River u/s (NW), Ambasamudram Lake (NNW) and Gadana River (NNW) were collected to assess the water quality of the area," the report noted.
Citizens also moved Delhi high court against the report which led the court to stall the project. However, the question has been raised against such submission and how the authorities have accepted such report on the basis of which nearly 17,000 trees were to be cut.