<p>A bench consisting of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam said: “The expert committee constituted by the government has conducted a survey on the environmental impact and cleared the project.”<br /><br />The apex court set aside a Delhi High Court order that had put the restrictions in place because of environmental worries by environmentalists and social activists due to large scale construction on the river bank. <br /><br />The government had submitted that the country runs the risk of missing the deadline to host the games by October 2010, if restrictions were to be placed on construction activities. <br /><br />The experts from Ministry of Environment and Forests and National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur, had conducted a survey on the environmental impact the construction of the games site may cause to the riverbank, the court said quoting the government report. <br /><br />Moreover, the famed Akshardham temple and the metro rail station are already on the banks of the river, the judgment pointed out as a means of justifying construction of the facilities for the game. <br /><br />The Delhi High Court in the order on November 3, 2008, had formed a five-member committee, headed by Rajendra Pachauri, head of a Nobel Prize-winning United Nations panel of climate-change scientists, to oversee the construction activities at the riverside site of the games village and submit a report on the environmental impact in three months.<br /><br />The Delhi Development Authority, the local government agency responsible for the project, had challenged the high court ruling.<br /><br />The petitioners had sought curbs on construction on the riverbed, which they argued was a flood catchment area. They also said the construction would disturb the ecological balance, hampering groundwater recharge and environmental regeneration.<br /><br />DH News Service</p>
<p>A bench consisting of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam said: “The expert committee constituted by the government has conducted a survey on the environmental impact and cleared the project.”<br /><br />The apex court set aside a Delhi High Court order that had put the restrictions in place because of environmental worries by environmentalists and social activists due to large scale construction on the river bank. <br /><br />The government had submitted that the country runs the risk of missing the deadline to host the games by October 2010, if restrictions were to be placed on construction activities. <br /><br />The experts from Ministry of Environment and Forests and National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur, had conducted a survey on the environmental impact the construction of the games site may cause to the riverbank, the court said quoting the government report. <br /><br />Moreover, the famed Akshardham temple and the metro rail station are already on the banks of the river, the judgment pointed out as a means of justifying construction of the facilities for the game. <br /><br />The Delhi High Court in the order on November 3, 2008, had formed a five-member committee, headed by Rajendra Pachauri, head of a Nobel Prize-winning United Nations panel of climate-change scientists, to oversee the construction activities at the riverside site of the games village and submit a report on the environmental impact in three months.<br /><br />The Delhi Development Authority, the local government agency responsible for the project, had challenged the high court ruling.<br /><br />The petitioners had sought curbs on construction on the riverbed, which they argued was a flood catchment area. They also said the construction would disturb the ecological balance, hampering groundwater recharge and environmental regeneration.<br /><br />DH News Service</p>
