Greens see red as SC okays Maya Memorial (TOI) 4 Dec 10

neha.lalchandani@timesgroup.com

The Supreme Court's judgment on Mayawati's park has not surprised environmentalists lobbying against it as nobody was expecting it to be demolished. However, they are dissapointed with the ''narrow'' analysis of the case by the apex court bench. Four years ago, the SC had directed the Uttar Pradesh government to notify a buffer zone around the Okhla Bird Park that is barely 10m away from the memorial park. Had the government followed that order, this project would never have come up. According to this order, all states and union territories had to submit proposals to the Centre for notifying buffer zones around eco-sensitive areas. Shortly after the ministry of environment and forests told the states in 2005 to use their discretion in identifying and notifying the buffer zones, the SC said if states did not act it would notify a 10-km area around eco-sensitive areas on their behalf. The SC was taking cognizance of several PILs that had been filed against states for not following its earlier order. The UP government was aware of this order when work on the memorial started. Vinod Jain of NGO Tapas said: ''Had the UP government notified a buffer zone around the bird sanctuary this project would never have come up. Instead of penalising the government for gross violation, the government is being indulged in its ineptitude, even if the concretisation is just 25% of the total area. Whatever the extent of construction, the project is just too close to the bird park.'' The Okhla Bird Park is home to several hundred migratory birds during the winter. Concerns were raised not only about bringing an urban landscape too close to nature, but also about the high tension wires that had been put up in the park as they would be dangerous for the birds. ''In true Mayawati style, the park will also be lit up all through the night and this will disorient the birds. The memorial has already resulted in a fall in population of some migratory birds. The nesting pattern of the Indian Golden Oriole has also been affected. The noise and light pollution caused by the construction would be a serious disturbance to birds in their natural habitat,'' said Anand Arya, a resident of sector-15A and one of the original petitioners. The memorial has come up on the remains of five parks that housed thousands of trees and were popular among residents who liked walking there. About 6,000 trees were chopped off to make way for the memorial. What made matters confusing for those involved was MoEF's ever-changing stand on the issue. One day it would say that an environment clearance was needed, the next day it would claim that no such impact assessment was required. The court also approved the project since it was not located on 'forest' area. ''When so many trees are being chopped down, is no permission required from the Centre. The UP government obviously studied the loopholes in the system quite well and will carry on with its blatant disregard for environmental norms,'' said another resident. The project was meant to be a beautification scheme. However, only when the MoEF and CEC stepped in, did it hurriedly bring in hundreds of saplings and plant them across the 33-hectare area of the memorial. The SC order has also mandated that 75% of the area has to be green but residents argue that there is nothing that can be done to compensate for the loss of so many fully-grown trees.