The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought a response from the Centre on appointment of an environmental regulator for green clearances, which was directed for in 2011.
A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian asked the Centre to file its reply as advocate Prashant Bhushan contended all environmental clearances have become farce with no independent oversight.
Bhushan pointed out that the court had in 2011 directed for setting up of a national environment regulatory body to ensure independent oversight of green clearances, in the ‘Lafarge mining case’.
The court also issued a notice to the Centre on a plea by Bhushan for quashing a notification, which stated that there would be no need for an environmental clearance for a road project of 100 kms length.
The top court was hearing a petition by Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR), challenging the construction of bridge projects in West Bengal to prevent felling of trees.
During the course of the hearing, the court suggested that environmentalist Ranjeet Singh, who drafted the Wildlife Protection Act, be included in a committee.
The court said somebody has to assess the value of heritage trees, which were to be removed for building a road.
The committee will lay down a protocol on whether the trees have to be cut down at the construction sites, it said.
(Published 09 March 2021, 11:49 IST)
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