The Supreme Court of India on Monday issued a directive to the Assam government asking it to maintain the status quo at the Doloo tea estate in the Cachar district of the state where a greenfield airport has been proposed for construction.
An SC bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra asked questions of the state government over clearing the shrubs in the tea garden with an environment impact assessment report.
The apex court also notified the Centre, the ministry of environment and forests, the government of Assam and others on the plea which was filed by Tapas Guha and others.
Appearing for the petitoners, Advocate Prashant Bhushan said that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had made an error and that granting of site clearance and in-principal approvals required environmental clearances.
On January 25, the NGT had dismissed the plea filed by Guha and others stating that the environmental impact assessment report is awaited and the environment clearance for the greenfield airport at Doloo had not been granted.
The NGT had said, "Counsel for the Applicants has drawn our attention to the Government of India, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Notification dated May 16, 2008, particularly column under the head 'Environment Clearances' and submits that even for grant of Site Clearance and In-principle approvals, Environmental Clearance is necessary which can only be done once the EIA assessment study is done."
"In our opinion, mere inclusion of a clause under the head 'Environment Clearances' in a Form of the said Notification does not deem the same to be mandatory for purposes of EIA assessment study," it added.
The plea filed with the NGT sought a directive to cease further action regarding the construction of the greenfield airport at Doloo Tea Estate until the conduction of a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) according to the EIA notification nd to restore the Doloo TEa Estate to its original condition as of May 12, 2022 by replanting the uprooted tea bushes, felled trees and rectifying the damage caused to the landscape and ecosystem.
Earlier, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) submitted an application under the Greenfield Airports (GFA) Policy, 2008 to the civil aviation ministry for granting 'site clearance' to develop a greenfield airport at Doloo Tea Estate in Assam's Cachar.
Quashing earlier claims of an imaginary airport at Doloo in the Cachar district of Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in February this year announced that the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation formally recommended the site clearance for the proposed greenfield airport.
The reports of an imaginary airport in Cachar's Doloo arose after the Union Ministry had revealed in response to an RTI query in 2022 that it had not received any proposal for the construction of the airport.
Protests led by the Doloo Tea Estate Save Coordination Committee also broke out on June 15 after the response from the Civil Aviation Ministry regarding not receiving a proposal.
The plans to construct a greenfield airport in the Southern Assam district near Silchar were announced by the Assam Chief Minister in January 2022. Soon after, swathes of the Doloo Tea Estate was cleared sparking the protests.
