Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Anil Kumar Yadav Vs State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, Uttar Pradesh & Ors dated 02/05/2022.

The NGT clubbed a number of appeals related to validity of environmental clearances (ECs) granted by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Uttar Pradesh for mining and treating the projects to be category 'B' projects. The applicants have challenged the same on the ground that the project should have been treated as category 'A' project in view of 'general condition' appended to the EIA Notification, September 14, 2006 - the projects being within the specified distance from critically polluted areas.

The NGT, March 5, 2021 sought a factual report from a joint committee.

[2]

The joint committee, October 26, 2021 said that Renukoot is the nearest industrial cluster to the mining site among the identified industrial clusters for polluted area - Singrauli. The project is located at more than 10 KM distance from Critically Polluted Area (CPA)/ Severely Polluted Area (SPA).

The NGT dismissed the applications and said that the project cannot be held to be category A as contended by the applicants.