I understand NGOs have managed some relief in their
Supreme Court PIL. This is the request I had
dispatched by hand this morning to LG to match the one
of Delhi Govt, reported in ToI yesterday.
=======
Lt Governor / DDA Chairman
Sub: Vasant Kunj Malls / Delhi Govt's request to have
construction stopped
Respected Sir,
According to the news report at encl.1. Delhi Govt has
requested you to have the construction of Vasant Kunj
Malls stopped due to lack of EIA clearance. I am
writing to request you to have Delhi Govt
constructions proceeding without EIA stopped, direct
it to file reply in WP(C) 8523/2003 (Shiv Narain v/s
DDA & Ors, in which, inter alia, the auction for the
Malls was assailed and Delhi Govt is a respondent and
has not cared to file reply) and to direct that any
compensation claimed by the Mall builders for stopping
of work will be paid by Delhi Govt and not the DDA in
view of the following:
1. EIA clearance was required for the Malls, auctioned
in December 2003, from MoEF / CPCB or Delhi Govt /
DPCC by Supreme Court orders of 1996-97. DDA had
clarified this, as well as Delhi Govt / DJB assurance
of water by Sep 2004, prior to the auction.
2. MoEF amended the EIA notification in July 2004. At
the time one Vikram Soni, now agitating the EIA issue,
had filed before CEC an application about biodiversity
in the area. Neither he nor Delhi Govt and MoEF, both
impleaded as Respondents, had raised then any
reservations about EIA. (The CEC report did not even
mention EIA notification of July 2004 or, for that
matter, CGWA notification or Biodiversity Act).
3. Work on the Malls sites started only after the CEC
matter concluded. Delhi Govt did not raise any EIA
issues for several months, despite several letters in
the context of WP(C) 8523/2002. In fact, on two
occasions it forwarded to authorities for 'appropriate
action and ATR to the representationist' requests for
reply on the notice of the Hon'ble Court. It is
pertinent that the PIL challenges also Delhi Govt
constructions, without building permissions and with
illegal boring, including mandi in Mehrauli ridge and
super-specialty hospital in green belt.
4. Both Delhi Govt and NGOs agitating the EIA issue
have at no point objected to the Malls in perspective
of Master Plan provisions for the area. Instead, they
purportedly seek to declare the area ridge forest,
while delineated ridge and forest is lost to Govt
constructions. Further, it has been the stand of these
NGOs and Delhi Govt that continuation of DDA is not to
their liking. Their belated demands for stopping a few
such ill-considered projects could well be seen as a
ploy to drive DDA to bankruptcy.
Kindly indulge any impropriety in the manner of this
letter. I have repeatedly pointed to the imminence of
precisely the sort of situation that has arisen and I
now fear the worst.
Yours sincerely
sd/-
Gita Dewan Verma, Planner
cc:
Sh Dinesh Rai, DDA VC, wrt discussion on 18.4.06 and
letter of 19.04.06
Sh S Shiva Kumar, Director (IA), MoEF, wrt prior
communications
__________________________________________________
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Supreme Court PIL. This is the request I had
dispatched by hand this morning to LG to match the one
of Delhi Govt, reported in ToI yesterday.
=======
Lt Governor / DDA Chairman
Sub: Vasant Kunj Malls / Delhi Govt's request to have
construction stopped
Respected Sir,
According to the news report at encl.1. Delhi Govt has
requested you to have the construction of Vasant Kunj
Malls stopped due to lack of EIA clearance. I am
writing to request you to have Delhi Govt
constructions proceeding without EIA stopped, direct
it to file reply in WP(C) 8523/2003 (Shiv Narain v/s
DDA & Ors, in which, inter alia, the auction for the
Malls was assailed and Delhi Govt is a respondent and
has not cared to file reply) and to direct that any
compensation claimed by the Mall builders for stopping
of work will be paid by Delhi Govt and not the DDA in
view of the following:
1. EIA clearance was required for the Malls, auctioned
in December 2003, from MoEF / CPCB or Delhi Govt /
DPCC by Supreme Court orders of 1996-97. DDA had
clarified this, as well as Delhi Govt / DJB assurance
of water by Sep 2004, prior to the auction.
2. MoEF amended the EIA notification in July 2004. At
the time one Vikram Soni, now agitating the EIA issue,
had filed before CEC an application about biodiversity
in the area. Neither he nor Delhi Govt and MoEF, both
impleaded as Respondents, had raised then any
reservations about EIA. (The CEC report did not even
mention EIA notification of July 2004 or, for that
matter, CGWA notification or Biodiversity Act).
3. Work on the Malls sites started only after the CEC
matter concluded. Delhi Govt did not raise any EIA
issues for several months, despite several letters in
the context of WP(C) 8523/2002. In fact, on two
occasions it forwarded to authorities for 'appropriate
action and ATR to the representationist' requests for
reply on the notice of the Hon'ble Court. It is
pertinent that the PIL challenges also Delhi Govt
constructions, without building permissions and with
illegal boring, including mandi in Mehrauli ridge and
super-specialty hospital in green belt.
4. Both Delhi Govt and NGOs agitating the EIA issue
have at no point objected to the Malls in perspective
of Master Plan provisions for the area. Instead, they
purportedly seek to declare the area ridge forest,
while delineated ridge and forest is lost to Govt
constructions. Further, it has been the stand of these
NGOs and Delhi Govt that continuation of DDA is not to
their liking. Their belated demands for stopping a few
such ill-considered projects could well be seen as a
ploy to drive DDA to bankruptcy.
Kindly indulge any impropriety in the manner of this
letter. I have repeatedly pointed to the imminence of
precisely the sort of situation that has arisen and I
now fear the worst.
Yours sincerely
sd/-
Gita Dewan Verma, Planner
cc:
Sh Dinesh Rai, DDA VC, wrt discussion on 18.4.06 and
letter of 19.04.06
Sh S Shiva Kumar, Director (IA), MoEF, wrt prior
communications
__________________________________________________
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Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com