THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Greens in the state are planning to move the National Green Tribunal (NGT) against the environmental clearance given by the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) to 17 quarries at a time when the chairman's post was vacant in the authority. The SEIAA is the nodal agency in the state that provides clearances for quarrying, sand mining and commercial projects in Kerala.
The chairman, Muthunaygam, had resigned following difference with the committee members in November and the government had roped in Directorate of Environment and Climate Change director P Sreekantan Nair to take charge.
The selection of Nair has come under a cloud with the pollution control board chairman filing a complaint against his selection as director of climate change.
"One member of SEIAA is K P Joy, a political appointment. He is a college professor from Puthuppally, the chief minister's constituency. The second member is the environment secretary who is an ex-officio member," said Harish V, the secretary of One Earth, One Life which plans to file an affidavit in the NGT soon.
He said environmental clearances were given to the quarries without the adequate quorum in the panel or considering the views of experts in the field. "How can the government clear these ecologically damaging proposals without having a mandatory SEIAA chairman," he asked.
Environmentalists said the state government has become emboldened after the Centre rejected Madhav Gadgil led Western Ghats Experts Ecology Panel (WGEEP) report and instead threw its weight behind the Kasturirangan panel report.
"Many quarries that have been given the eco-nod come under the ecologically sensitive zones (ESZ) mentioned in the Gadgil report. The state has been providing clearances for quarrying in Idukki and Kottayam districts. This can lead to wide spread ecological disturbances," he said.
This is in spite of Madhav Gadgil's recent warning that there over 1,500 illegal quarries operating in the state that needs to be shut down immediately.
The state government had also, last week, directed the collectors to identify banks of selected rivers and get them certified by SEIAA so that sand mining can be done there.
"We feel that the clearance by a rudderless SEIAA could lead to indiscriminate sand mining. The authority has lost its relevance now and it should be scrapped immediately," he said.
Meanwhile, the states have been given a two-week extension in deadline for filing their responses about the Kasturirangan committee report with the Centre. Kerala has already submitted a report seeking a resurvey of the 123 ESAs mentioned in the report.
