SC halts ILS Hill Road project in Pune pending environmental clearance

New Delhi, Oct 15 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Wednesday halted the construction of the proposed ILS Hill Road project, which is a part of the Balbharati–Paud Phata link road planned through the Indian Law Society (ILS) campus and Law College Hill in Pune, pending environmental clearance.

The top court also asked the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to expeditiously decide the issue of grant of environmental clearance (EC) by the Pune municipal body.

A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran said there was a need to balance development with the conservation of environment and forests.

The bench was hearing petitions filed by environmentalist Sushma Date and an intervention by the Indian Law Society, which owns a significant portion of the land through which the proposed alignment runs.

“We direct that the project shall not be commenced unless environmental clearance is granted by the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) authority,” the bench said.

“Taking into consideration that the project has been pending for a long period, we direct that the EIA decide the application for grant of EC expeditiously,” the bench said.

Initially, the bench was of the view that the issue of grant of EC should be decided within three months by the MoEFCC.

Senior advocate Anitha Shenoy, representing Date, argued that the proposed alignment cuts through the ILS campus and the adjoining Law College Hill, an ecologically sensitive area that forms part of Pune’s natural forest ecosystem.

Describing the site as a “virgin forest hill", the lawyer said it hosts more than 400 species of trees and contains a natural aquifer that helps recharge the groundwater table in western Pune.

She pointed out that consultants engaged by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) had themselves found a one-season environmental study inadequate, recommending instead a comprehensive four-season EIA to capture the area's biodiversity and hydrological importance.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the PMC, defended the project, arguing that the road forms part of Pune’s approved development plan, and therefore does not require separate environmental clearance.

He maintained that the alignment had been carefully designed to minimise ecological impact, ensuring it would not disturb the forested portion of the hill.

“The alignment does not pass over the hilltop and only touches its lower contours,” Mehta told the court, asserting that the civic body was conscious of the environmental sensitivities.

However, the bench questioned the logic of that distinction, noting that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) previously held that a similar road with the same alignment required an EIA.

“If the NGT said that an EIA was necessary for another road with the same alignment, why not for this,” the bench asked.

Senior advocate Devadatt Kamat, appearing for the Indian Law Society, informed the court that a status quo order passed by the Bombay High Court in 2005 in the society's writ petition challenging the acquisition of its land for the road is still in effect.

Kamat highlighted that the ILS Hill has been preserved for nearly a century through afforestation efforts, describing it as one of Pune’s last remaining green spaces and a vital component of the city’s environmental heritage. PTI SJK ARI