Green nod: NHAI says ball now in ministry's court

Delhi-Ludhiana expressway talks begin, states express in-principle approval

With the Prime Minister’s Office stepping in to resolve the row between the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) over forest clearances to highway projects, the former has communicated the ball is now in the latter’s court.

Senior officials in the NHAI and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said the highway authority maintained its stand and had communicated this to the MoEF and the PMO.

NHAI has been demanding MoEF delinks the environment and forest clearance from each other, following which it will withdraw its court case against the ministry.

Last week, NHAI dragged MoEF to the Supreme Court seeking a modification of the ministry’s criteria linking environment and forest clearance.

NHAI and the road ministry claim many highway projects have been stalled due to delays by the MoEF in granting forest clearance. MoEF has maintained the delay is more due to incomplete documentation by NHAI.

It has been reported the PMO has directed MoEF to issue clarification delinking the two clearances.

Environment clearance was delinked from forest clearance until the apex court’s 2011 order in the case involving cement major Lafarge.

Following the Lafarge order, the MoEF went ahead linking the two clearances to even road widening projects. It now gives environment clearance to road projects only after forest clearance is obtained. NHAI argues that linking the two has delayed 22 projects that had already been awarded.

While NHAI applies for environment clearances, the states through which the road passes have to apply for forest clearance.

The unavailability of land, which the ministry of roads maintains is due to lack of environment clearances, has resulted in two major exits from highway projects last week.

While GMR terminated the concession agreement with NHAI for the 555-km Kishangarh-Udaipur-Ahmedabad project, a subsidiary of GVK Power and Infrastructure terminated a road widening project of in Madhya Pradesh.

Meanwhile, the minister of road transport and highways on Wednesday informed mediapersons that the governments of Haryana, Punjab and Delhi had agreed to a proposal from the Punjab government for a 291-km expressway between Delhi and Ludhiana. This will be linked with Chandigarh through a 91-km stretch, he added.

He said various options, including financing through real estate development, are being explored for financing the Rs 20,000-crore project. Officials close to the development said the expressway might touch Gohana, Assandh, Kathal in Haryana and Samana and Nabha in Punjab.