Metro
Public Action
Bring Metro Rail Projects under EIA Notification
Appeal to Shri Jairam Ramesh,
Hon'ble Minister of State for Environment and Forests Government of India
Online Petition by the Civil Society Organisations and Concerned Citizens in India
(download in MS Word - 34 KB)
Dear Shri Ramesh,
As you may be aware, the environmental and social impacts of the construction of Metro Rail Projects (MRPs) in many countries are subject to a series of rigorous evaluations and public consultations. The MRPs are probably the largest mega projects being executed in urban areas and involve massive investments. They cause extensive impacts on the local environment and human settlements, especially during construction stages. It is widely understood in urban planning, based on experience, that typical problems of such systems include defacement of the skyline, depression in the economy on the streets where elevated corridors pass, increase in crime rates, increase in noise pollution, increased congestion on the road surface below, loss of green and public spaces, etc.
In the last few years several cities in India have decided to implement MRPs. Largely based on the Delhi Metro design, these MRPs are elevated corridors and aligned along central meridians of the key traffic routes. While there is a need to take up mass rapid transit systems (MRTS) in an integrated way in Indian cities, the MRPs are thrust on the cities as stand alone projects. There is absolutely no concern for strengthening the existing alternatives. It pains us to bring to your notice that not a single mega city in the country has taken up provision of safe sidewalks (woefully lacking now) as a priority. The increasing number of accidents and casualties the pedestrians and cyclists are subjected to on the cities� roads seems to have never touched the conscience of the urban administrators at the helm of affairs in India. This, despite the adoption of a progressive Urban Transport Policy recently.
Applicability of EIA Notification to Metro Rail Projects:
The MRPs (as mass rapid transit systems) were explicitly included in the list of projects requiring prior environmental clearance in the Draft EIA Notification dated 15 September 2005 (for inviting suggestions/objections from the public) issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India. There must have been a strong justification for including the MRPs in the Draft Notification. However, the Final EIA Notification dated 14 September 2006 surprisingly omitted the MRPs from the list of projects.
The highly questionable omission was made at the instance of Shri E. Sreedharan, Managing Director, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), as evidenced in his letter dated 14 November 2005 to the MoEF. It may be noted that the DMRC is a prime consultant to all the MRPs in India. We consider that the omission of MRPs from Final EIA Notification, 2006, at the intervention of their prime consultant, is arbitrary and discriminatory in favour of the metro rail lobbies (lobbies of the construction companies and international coach manufacturers). It is pertinent to note that this issue has come up in a PIL in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh and the MoEF has not yet filed the counter, even after one year, to the Writ Petition No. 18483 of 2008 on Hyderabad metro rail project where environmental issues form a core concern.
The projects that involve huge construction activities are included in the list of projects requiring environmental clearance in the Final Notification (item 8 of the Schedule - 8(a)-Building and Construction projects, and 8(b)-Townships and Area Development projects). Despite MRPs being associated with huge construction activity (for stations, piers, corridors etc.) through the heavily built up core city areas, they are exempted from environmental clearance. We wish to draw your attention to the fact that Metro rail authorities across many cities are refusing to furnish even basic details of the projects to the public on the grounds that they are exempted from the EIA Notification 2006. The applications under RTI Act 2005 are often given scant regard.
Each city has its own history, heritage, topography, built environment and human settlements pattern. The transport models should take into account all these factors, which, unfortunately is not the case with the elevated MRPs. For instance, the proposed elevated metro in Hyderabad is going to permanently deface some of the historic heritage precincts of Hyderabad city (viz., Assembly building, Salarjung Museum, Clock Tower, Mojam Jahi Market etc.) and will lead to total demolition of historic shopping areas like Sultan Bazar and Badi Chawdi. The elevated corridors will pass very close to residences affecting the lives of millions of people through adverse effects of noise pollution, vibrations, intrusion of privacy etc.
The elevated metro construction in Bangalore is leading to cutting off of hundreds of trees and destruction of parks, including the world famous Lalbagh and Cubbon Parks. Further, during construction, the project has been plagued by a series of problems relating to dislocation of human settlements. People have actively protested the commercialisation of parks and public spaces by the Metro without conforming to any consultation mechanisms.
Metro authorities in Mumbai want to forcibly displace 40000 slum dwellers of Laljipada on the banks of Poisar river to make way for railcar shed construction. The poor slum dwellers are protesting to protect their livelihoods. Thousands of others are going to be adversely affected due to metro construction. A large extent of mangroves is likely to be cleared if the metro authorities have their way. Several resident welfare associations in Delhi have approached the Delhi High Court against elevated corridor in their colonies on various social and environmental grounds. All these instances suggest that the Metro systems as they are planned seem to have overlooked a range of environmental and social concerns, and these very issues seem to bog down such projects as they are implemented. Clearly, a proper appraisal of the Metros� environmental and social impacts prior to initiating their implementation would have secured the public interest better.
There is overwhelming evidence internationally to suggest that the proponents of urban mega projects overestimate benefits to get them sanctioned. The low ridership (7 lakh as against estimated 25 lakh) in Delhi metro phase I even after several years of operation, and the recent spate of accidents, make it imperative to subject the MRPs to more rigorous evaluation from the conceptual stage itself. Not going through such evaluations and public consultations may lead to these mega projects getting embroiled in real estate and corporate scams (eg. Maytas Metro scandal in Hyderabad) and will be counterproductive and detrimental to our cities and citizens.
As per Principles 10 and 11 of the Rio Declaration, countries all over have subjected MRPs to a due and prior informed consultation with the wider public and subject these projects to rigorous assessments relating to the project's environment, social and techno-economic impacts. In India, barring the EIA Notification and the Town and Country Planning Acts, there has bee no opportunity to the public to participate in decision making. In the particular case of MRPs, each and every project has blatantly and openly flouted the provisions of these laws, encouraged now by the deliberate dropping of reference to MRPs.
Keeping all this in view, we urge you to immediately issue an amendment to the EIA Notification 2006 by including the Metro Rail Projects in the Schedule so that they undergo a full review of their environmental and social impacts through public consultations. This amendment should be applicable to all the Metro Rail Projects that are currently in different stages of formulation and implementation in Indian cities.
Petition initiated in India by:
C. Ramachandraiah, Citizens for a Better Public Transport, Hyderabad.
Leo Saldanha, Environment Support Group, Bengaluru.
Medha Patkar, National Alliance for Peoples Movements.
22 October 2009
Yours truly,
ESG is an independent not-for-profit organisation that promotes the cause of environmental and social justice through research, documentation, advocacy, training and campaign support. We aim to support the rights of local communities and voiceless ecosystems in a responsible, progressive manner that keeps contextual complexities in mind.