No force in plea for demolition of Bund Garden-Mundhwa 100ft road alongside RFD project: NGT

Pune: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) bench in Pune on Wednesday disposed of an execution application that sought directions to demolish the 100ft road, being constructed by the PMC alongside the riverfront development (RFD) project, from Bund Garden STP to Mundhwa, claiming that the same was coming up within the blue line of the Mula-Mutha river. "The tribunal found force in our submission that an earlier plan to construct an elevated road along this stretch was dropped in favour of a road at the grade level. This was under the changed circumstances after the Supreme Court as well as the NGT cleared the Pune Metro and the RFD projects at different points in time, besides the grant of an environment clearance to Mula, Mutha and Mula-Mutha RFD project. The upcoming road aims at serving the larger public interest in reducing traffic congestion," PMC's lawyer Rahul Garg told TOI. On Aug 3, 2018, the NGT had passed an order to the effect that when the proposed 100ft wide road is taken up, the recommendations of an expert committee (comprising representatives of NEERI, Maharashtra State Bio-Diversity Board, and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board) will be fully complied with and the committee will assess the actual location of piers and its impact on river bed. The tribunal then did not adjudicate the issue of whether the road fell within the blue line as the PMC had not proposed such road then. Activists Sarang Yadvadkar and Arnavaz Rohintan Aga contended through the execution application that the PMC went ahead with the 100ft road construction without adhering to the Aug 3, 2018, order that mandated compliance of expert committee recommendations and an assessment. The expert committee had recommended, among other things, a comprehensive 3D mapping, visualising impacts by superimposition of road alignment and construction activity and an environmental impact assessment when the road project was to be taken up. The PMC submitted a detailed affidavit regarding the matter on April 30, 2024. The green tribunal referred to the same and held that the execution application had no relevance under the changed circumstances. "We find force in PMC's argument that after the environmental clearance (EC) granted for Mula, Mutha and Mula-Mutha River Rejuvenation Project, the said road is being constructed at the place in question. Therefore, there is no possibility of the water of Mula-Mutha river flowing over the abatements of river rejuvenation structures / developmental activities. Therefore, under the changed circumstances, implementation of the (Aug 3, 2018) judgment in question does not arise," the bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh and expert member Sujit Kumar Bajpayee held. "It is very clear that since there is no elevated road being constructed on pillars, the direction, which was passed by this tribunal in the above- mentioned original application, does not have any relevance in the changed circumstances," the bench said.