New Delhi, April 6 The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea challenging the environmental clearance granted to the Kozhikode-Wayanad tunnel construction in Kerala, stating that the project would be a lifeline for the people of the state.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi refused to interfere with the Kerala High Court's order from last year, which dismissed a plea by the Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithi, a non-governmental organization, challenging the construction of a twin-tube tunnel corridor to connect the Kozhikode and Wayanad districts.
The bench granted the NGO the liberty to approach the National Green Tribunal if there were any violations of the conditions of the Environmental Clearance (EC) during the construction of the tunnel, and also rejected the challenge.
During the hearing, the bench told senior advocate Shyam Divan, representing the NGO, that the project was of national importance and would be a lifeline for the people of Kerala, given the situation of high population density and difficulty in acquiring land, which leads to severe traffic congestion.
Addressing Divan's concerns that the area was a fragile, ecologically sensitive zone prone to severe landslides, the top court said that the project was handled by experts, and adequate safeguards have been suggested to address environmental concerns.
The top court dismissed the petition that challenged the environmental clearance granted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to the Public Works Department of the Government of Kerala for the construction of a four-lane, unidirectional twin-tube tunnel road to provide direct connectivity between the Kozhikode and Wayanad districts of Kerala.
Under the project, a 8.735 km twin-tube tunnel road connecting Kozhikode and Wayanad through the Western Ghats will be constructed.
