The Supreme Court has cast a cloud of uncertainty over the proposed greenfield airport at Doloo Tea Estate in Assam's Barak Valley. In a recent judgement, the apex court directed a stay on the construction and ordered the maintenance of the ‘status quo’ at the contentious site.
"There shall be a stay of the operation of the impugned judgement and order of the Eastern Zone Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on January 25. 2024, and pending further directions, the status quo shall be maintained at the site," the court said.
This judgement comes on the back of a petition filed by Tapas Guha, Pradip Roy and Baidyanath Sengupta, challenging the large-scale uprooting of trees and eviction of workers at the tea estate without requisite environmental clearances.
The petitioners, represented by lawyer Prashant Bhushan, argued that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had erred in dismissing their plea on the grounds that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report was awaited.
The three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice D.R. Chandrachud, issued notices to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Assam government.
The court order effectively halts construction activities until the clearances are obtained and a comprehensive EIA is conducted.
The Doloo Tea Estate controversy has been simmering for over two years now.
In May 2022, the state government approached the owner to acquire 2,500 bighas of land for the airport project. This move sparked protests from hundreds of tea garden workers who faced eviction and potential loss of livelihood. The unrest intensified when the district administration deployed bulldozers to clear the tea plantation, prompting clashes with security forces.
Adding another layer of complexity, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, in June 2022, clarified that the central government had not received any formal proposal for the greenfield airport. This raised questions about the project's viability and the state government's adherence to established procedures.
Scindia was replying to a question from TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev, who had sought clarification from the Union minister about sanctioning a greenfield airport in Cachar district and asked for a timeline of the project provided that the ministry had already sanctioned it.
"If any such proposal from any airport developer of the state government is received, it will be considered as per the Green Airport Policy, 2008, " Scindia said replying to a letter from Dev.
"The Union government has formulated a Greenfield Airport Policy 2008 under which an airport developer of the respective state government willing to establish a greenfield airport is required to send a proposal to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MOCA) in the prescribed format available in the ministry website for two-stage procedure i.e. 'site clearance' followed by 'in-principle' approval," Scindia added.
The Supreme Court's intervention has put the brakes on the project for now. The petitioners are seeking restoration of the tea estate to its original condition and a halt to all construction activities until a complete EIA is conducted.
The onus now lies on the Assam government to address the environmental concerns and obtain the necessary clearances before restarting the project.
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