Cabinet had approved a proposal to lease out 3.7 acres of land at Pragati Maidan for a hotel.
The National Green Tribunal has cleared the decks for re-development of the Pragati Maidan exhibition complex in New Delhi and junked a plea challenging the decision to turn it into a world-class convention centre.
A bench headed by green court Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel dismissed the plea, which also sought quashing of environmental clearance granted to the India Trade Promotion Organisation, which manages the exhibition complex.
The green court said doubts have been expressed by the applicant on the reliability of the studies undertaken and the credibility of the Environment Impact Assessment Report, but they are not supported by better materials and the plea deserves to be rejected.
It said the examination and scrutiny of the process does not reveal any substantial deficiency so as to vitiate the environmental clearance.
"The tribunal as the appellate authority against the grant of Environmental Clearance has examined not only the EIA Report but also the entire stages in the EIA process. The examination and scrutiny of the process do not reveal any substantial deficiency so as to vitiate the Environmental Clearance," the bench said.
"The object of undertaking an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is founded on the principal of Sustainable Development and the Precautionary Principle. As already discussed, the principle concerns raised by the Appellant in respect of Environmental Clearance do not appear to be justified," it added.
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