From CK Nayak
NEW DELHI, Sep 19: Meghalaya Government denied any large-scale forest land grabbing by the University of Science & Technology, Meghalaya, and also dismissed allegations of its Assam counterpart that such land-grabbing, among other things, has “caused” massive flooding in Guwahati city.
The Meghalaya government’s submission comes after the Supreme Court of India asked the state to file a reply in response to the case filed by one Jitul Deka with the Union of India and others as respondents before the Chief Justice of India. The case will be heard against on October 8
Earlier, the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), which advises the Supreme Court on environmental and forest compliance, after going through all reports, on Wednesday recommended a cumulative penalty of ₹150.35 crore on USTM for diversion of forest land against all rules and without prior approval.
In its submission, the Meghalaya government said that land allocation to the USTM was done as per rules and fines were imposed in case of any violations which were realised too.
It made clear that in Meghalaya, forest land is not under control only of the state government but also of the autonomous district councils too and the apex court is well aware of it.
The state government made it clear that the area of 60.0586 hectare diverted for 400KV line of NETC is spread in a linear configuration of 10.4 km across Ri-Bhoi District and not all of it falls within the USTM. In March this year, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma while addressing media in the national capital had defended the USTM which was charged with various irregularities including forest land-grabbing, by his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The allegation of the Assam government about flooding in Guwahati due to hill-cuttings in Meghalaya was also dismissed by the Meghalaya government.
Rain water flows naturally from the hills in Meghalaya to Assam which is in lower elevation and it is not because of any man made activities, it said.
Interestingly, quoting from the local media from Assam, the Meghalaya government said that rampant constructions, unplanned urbanisation, encroachment of wetlands have resulted in massive water logging in Guwahati. On top of it there are no proper drainage facilities and lack of dredging and cleaning of existing natural drains have added to the flooding problem.
“Guwahati’s topography makes it prone to water accumulation,” the Meghalaya government maintained. Floods in areas where the rivers enter into the plains from the hills are an accepted phenomenon, it added.
The sole reason for the floods in Guwahati is the rampant construction activity and rapid expansion of the urban areas which has left hardly any flood plains for the bulging rivers for rainy seasons, the submission said. It is a well-known fact that during monsoon a large portion of Guwahati is flooded annually and areas in Assam and Guwahati which are far away from the Meghalaya border are also flooded during this season, it pointed out.
Guwahati city now extends till Khanapara and Jorabat at the border of Meghalaya and such rapid urbanisation has its own consequences, which the city is facing during rainy seasons. The activities on hills over a small area by few mining leaseholders and one University cannot be held responsible for monsoon flash floods in the city, the Meghalaya government added.
There are systemic failures, ill-conceived infrastructure expansion, encroachment on natural waterways and wetlands, fragile city’s drainage system, blocked drains, silted channels, poorly designed storm water outlets, unregulated construction are adding to the flood woos of Guwahati, it said, adding that
rivers like Bharalu are turning into heavily-polluted open sewers.
“It is the considerate opinion of the Government of Meghalaya that flooding throughout the city of Guwahati cannot be attributed to the natural flow of water coming down from the State of Meghalaya, which is a matter of a misplaced and unscientific opinion held by the Government of Assam, the sternly worded submission before the court said.
To buttress its claim, it said that reported flow of muck from Meghalaya to Assam has already been dealt with by the National Green Tribunal by constituting a committee including experts from IIT Guwahati. This committee has reported that no muck is being disposed of from hills of Meghalaya to water bodies of Guwahati.
After hearing all sides, the apex court asked Meghalaya government to submit a report on the alleged forest land-grabbing by USTM which is staring at a whopping ₹150.35 crore fine by the court’s CEC.
The ₹150.35-crore penalty includes charges for forest land net present value, tree cutting, environmental compensation, land restoration, demolition, and compensatory afforestation.
