Kullu: An environmental activist has filed an appeal in the National Green Tribunal (NGT), challenging the environmental clearance granted by the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) to the Bulk Drug Park – a pharmaceutical manufacturing hub coming up in the Haroli sub-division of Una district.
According to the appeal filed by activist Rohit Singh, multiple environmental violations were committed at the project site, which is being developed over 568 hectares of land in Pollian Beet in Haroli by the Himachal Pradesh Bulk Drug Park Infrastructure Ltd (HPBDPIL).
The petition states that massive terrain alteration activities, including tree felling and land levelling, took place at the project site even before environmental clearance was granted by the ministry.
An Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) flagged landslide susceptibility, drainage disruption and erosion risks at the project site and directed fresh studies by the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI).
The scientific studies were never part of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) or public hearings, rendering the environmental clearance defective, read the petition.
The petitioner further stated that the EIA lists 59 hazardous chemicals for manufacture, many of which come under the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules (MSIHC), 1989, Schedule 3 (isolated storage). However, no quantitative risk assessment, toxic dispersion modeling, or off-site emergency plan was conducted, which was a violation of the MSIHC rules.
According to the petition, the project area contains Schedule 1 species of animals, including leopards, pythons and cobras, yet no wildlife conservation plan was approved by the chief wildlife warden.
The petition also claimed that the EIA wrongly classifies the project area as "sporadic forest", suppressing the forest department's classification of the site as a "compact wooded block" with over 21,000 trees.
The public hearing was conducted in only one village despite a 10-km impact zone covering multiple habitations, and mandatory disclosures of slope stability, hazardous chemicals and water demand were not made public, the petition added.
According to the petitioner, the environmental clearance to the project was granted despite incomplete environmental appraisal and missing statutory clearances, even as the project poses irreversible risk to the hydrology, slope stability, wildlife, air quality, groundwater and public health for over 4,00,000 residents living in the impact zone.
Rohit Singh first approached the NGT in April 2025, claiming land mining and site disturbance in and around the proposed Bulk Drug Park site. However, the project was granted environmental clearance on Sept 25, 2025, by the MoEFCC, prompting Singh to file an appeal in the tribunal.
Singh simultaneously filed an interlocutory application (IA), requesting a stay on the construction activities at the project site on the ground that the MoEFCC granted the environmental clearance despite the matter being sub judice.
According to the IA, despite evidence of mining, a joint committee formed by the state govt stated in its report dated Aug 28, 2025, "no site disturbance", and the project proponent and the MoEFCC falsely repeated the assertions in their respective affidavits to the NGT, misleading the tribunal.
The petition stated that the joint committee falsely denied site disturbance despite the applicant providing aerial evidence of mining, captured in May and June 2025, near and inside the Bulk Drug Park boundary.
The petitioner appealed to the NGT to issue restraining orders on all project-related activities, including construction work, tree felling, land disturbance and mining, and to direct respondents to file affidavits disclosing the present status of the project.
The petitioner also requested the NGT to set aside the environmental clearance and direct the MoEFCC to initiate penalty proceedings against the project proponent.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation of the Bulk Drug Park in Oct 2022, while chief minister Sukhvinder Sukhu inaugurated the commencement of work at the Park in June 2024.
Petitioner claims harassment (Box)
Himachal Pradesh govt registered an FIR against the applicant on July 2, 2025, and initiated a civil suit on July 5, 2025, immediately after Rohit Singh used geo-tagged drone footage to expose illegal mining and site disturbance at and around the Bulk Drug Park. According to the interlocutor application, the subsequent police investigation revolved almost entirely around locating the drone used for documenting the violations rather than examining the underlying illegality. Rohit Singh was subjected to repeated summons, coercive investigation, unlawful searches and sustained harassment, stated the petition.
MSID:: 128781222 413 |
Start a Conversation
Post comment