The Supreme Court has not only halted all work on the Greenfield Mopa international airport project, but has rejected the environmental clearance given to the project and has gone on to commend the environmentalists who have fought to protect the eco-system of the Mopa plateau that is under threat due to the international airport project. Yet, at the same time it is a small victory for the opponents of the airport at Mopa, as the project has not been scrapped by the Supreme Court, but it’s been merely halted.
To restart the work, all that the project proponents have to do is go back to the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change and seek a new environment impact assessment. The EAC has been directed to revisit its recommendations that led to grant of environment clearance to the project, while keeping in view the specific concerns highlighted in the judgment. If all the conditions are met, the work could restart again. In fact it will once all the flaws in the environment impact assessment are ironed out and a new environmental clearance is granted. The onus is entirely on the EAC to ensure that the concerns about the terrestrial eco systems noted in the judgement are adequately protected.
But Goa’s environmentalists are not willing to give up the fight to stop the project from taking off as yet. The demand now is that the government scraps the project and hands back the land that has been acquired for the airport project to the original owners, primarily farmers, who can then go back to agriculture. This demand has been made by more than one environmentalist, and the Mopa Vimantol Pidit Xetkari Samiti that has taken up the issue has now vowed to fight till the land is returned. They have a long battle ahead of them if they hope to turn this into a reality.
There is, however, one statement from the Supreme Court that Goa’s environmentalists will wear like a badge: “Matters concerning environmental governance concern not just the living, but generations to come. The protection of the environment, as an essential facet of human development, ensures sustainable development for today and tomorrow.” The long term perspective is often overlooked as the short term profits appear more palatable for various development projects, and this is exactly what happened with the Mopa airport. The government and the Expert Appraisal Committee failed to consider the damage to the environment that would be wrought about by the construction of the airport on the land.
One must, however, ask on what basis did the EAC recommend the environmental clearance to the project? Was there any political pressure involved, or was it that there was no application of mind? This order of the Supreme Court brings into question other environmental clearances that have been awarded to projects, as these too could be flawed and subject to revision. This means, that the battle for the environment will never end. It will continue, and as asked by Claude Alvares of the Goa Foundation, “how many more lessons before these so-called experts and developers change their mindset?”
Yes, experts, as the EAC, by its very nomenclature is expected to be made up by environment specialists. If they were on the committee, did they err where the Mopa airport project is concerned? The blinkers to environment concerns that are worn by governments and government bodies when dealing with business or development projects have to be got rid of. It is only then that the battle to save the environment will meet with success. Until then, there will only be such victories, significant but of a passing nature.
