National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday directed a Chennai-based private property developer to pay a compensation of Rs 20 lakh for violating environment norms.
Voora Property Developers Private Limited started laying foundation for a sea-facing luxury apartment at Tondiarpet in Chennai without obtaining environmental clearance.
The firm in 2019 had proposed to construct a 27-floor apartment, named ‘Ocean’s 27’, at an estimated cost of Rs 40 crore.
Though it obtained planning permission from Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) and building plan approval from Greater Chennai Corporation, it did not obtain environmental clearance.
Even as the application was pending, construction was started at foundation level in violation of Environmental (Protection) Act 1986, said M R Thiyagarajan, president of Meenva Thanthai K R Selvaraj Kumar Meenavar Nala Sangam.
When he approach NGT Southern Zone, the firm was restrained from proceeding with further construction and constituted a committee to inspect the site.
The committee recommended an environmental compensation of Rs 12.37 lakh for damage caused to the environment, especially in a Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ).
The petitioner’s counsel Maheshwaran argued that the report didn’t mention about the old bore well in the site and possible illegal extraction of groundwater through the well.
So the committee again inspected the site in October and confirmed that the old well was closed by Voora and they purchased water ,required for construction, from outside and brought it to site using tankers.
Referring to a 2018 Supreme Court order, which fixed environmental damages in such cases as Rs 100 crore or 10% of project cost (whichever is higher), NGT Southern Zone imposed a compensation by taking only 0.5% of the project cost because only project was in preliminary stage. So Voora was directed to pay Rs 20 lakh as compensation instead of Rs 12.37 lakh, recommended by the committee. Since the firm had already paid Rs.11.47 lakh, it was told to deposit the remaining money with TN Pollution Control Board within two months.
