Environment
Support Group ®
S-3, Rajashree Apartments, 18/57, 1st Main
Road, S. R. K. Gardens,
Jayanagar, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore 560
041. INDIA
Telefax: 91-80-6341977 Fax: 91-80-6723926
(PP)
Email: esg@bgl.vsnl.net.in Website: http://www.altindia.net/esg/index.htm
(Regd.
Post with Acknowledgement Due)
Government of Karnataka
Vidhana Soudha
Bangalore 560 001
25 September, 2001
Reg.: NHRC
direction in Case No. 93/10/2001-2002 regarding Human Right violations in the
conduct of the Environmental Public Hearings held as part of the clearance for
the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project (BMIC)
Dear Madam,
We have received a copy of the NHRC letter dated 13/24
August 2001 addressed to you, intimating NHRC’s directions that you would “look
into the grievance” based on our complaint lodged as above, and “take such
action as is appropriate in the circumstances”. It has also been stated that an “action taken” report would have
to be submitted to NHRC within a period of 4 weeks from receipt of the said
letter.
Towards ensuring healthy public participation and
transparency in decision making, and building public confidence in the rule of
law, we would be most obliged if you would consider the following suggestions
for initiating appropriate action.
1.
The NHRC’s direction acknowledges the merit of our
grievance, more fully detailed in the complaint A most appropriate action to correct this gross injustice would
involve holding fresh Public Hearings on the project. In our opinion, therefore, earlier Public Hearings are to be
considered null and void and this would render all clearances accorded to the
project void as well.
To ensure meaningful participation of the public, it is imperative that such
hearings be held only after fully sharing public domain information on the said
project.
2.
In this regard we would also like to recall that on 11
July 2000, Chief Minister Shri. S. M. Krishna had ordered that the Divisional
Commissioner conduct an enquiry into the manner in which the Public Hearings
were “held”. This action was ordered as
a result of widespread condemnation of the human rights abuse. To the best of our understanding, no action
has been initiated in this regard till now.
We feel that ensuring compliance with the Chief Minister’s directions
and making the outcome of the enquiry public would partially fulfill the
expectations of the NHRC as regards the “appropriate action” to be taken. Such
a step would also guarantee that human rights violations would not recur in the
future in Statutory Public Hearings.
We do hope you will affect these actions at the earliest
and ensure that the carriage of justice is not compromised.
Thanking you,
Yours truly,
Leo F. Saldanha
Coordinator
Environment Support Group
Cc.:
1.
Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission (Law
Division), New Delhi
2.
Chief Minister, Government of Karnataka
3.
Union Minister for Environment and Forests
4.
Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment
5.
Minister for Public Works, Government of Karnataka
6.
Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha
7.
Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha
8.
Leader of Opposition, Karnataka State Council
9.
Leader of Opposition, Karnataka State Assembly
10.
Deputy Chairman, Karnataka State Planning Board
11.
Member Secretary, National Planning Commission
12.
Experts of the MoEF Clearance Committee on Infrastructure
13.
Spl. Secretary (IA), Ministry of Environment and Forests,
Govt. of India
14.
Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka and Chair of the
Empowered Committee on BMIC
15.
Chief Conservator of Forests (Southern Cell), Ministry of
Environment and Forests, Government of India
16.
Principal Secretary, Public Works Department, Government
of Karnataka
17.
Principal Secretary, Dept. of Industries, Government of
Karnataka
18.
Principal Secretary, Dept of Infrastructure and Urban
Development, Government of Karnataka
19.
Principal Secretary, Dept. of Ecology, Environment and
Forests, Government of Karnataka
20.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Karnataka State
Forest Department
21.
Chairman, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board
22.
Chairman, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board
23.
Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment,
Government of India
24.
Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India
25.
Secretary
Department of Company Affairs, Govt. of India
26.
Secretary,
Ministry of Urban Development, Govt. of India
27.
Chairman, Foreign Investment Promotion Board, New Delhi
28.
Secretary, Ministry of Surface Transport, Govt. of India
29.
Special Land Acquisition Officer, BMIC Project, Karnataka
Industrial Area Development Board
30.
Secretary (Law and Order) Government of Karnataka