Schools, colleges no longer exempt environmental clearances before construction: SC | Mumbai news

MUMBAI: Industrial sheds, schools, colleges and hostels for educational institutions will no longer benefit from an exemption from obtaining environmental clearances under the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) prior to the structure’s construction. The exemption, granted by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in January this year, was struck down by the Supreme Court last week following a petition by city NGO Vanashakti.

Schools, colleges no longer exempt environmental clearances before construction: SC

A bench of chief justice of India Bhushan R Gavai and justice K Vinod Chandran held that the exemption “does not appear to be in tune with the purpose for which the Environment Protection Act has been enacted.” The EP Act 1986 was to implement the decisions of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, and prevent, control, and stop environmental pollution.

The MoEFCC had issued detailed guidelines to the exempted structures to make sure they adhere to environmental regulations. However, the court noted that there was no mechanism in place to check the environmental impact of these structures by an expert body like the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA). The apex court said that a construction of over 20,000 sq.m will naturally have an effect on the environment and ecology, even if the building is for industrial shed or for educational purposes.

The bench said, “It is common knowledge that education is no more exclusively a service oriented activity and that it has in fact become a flourishing and thriving industry.” The court added that exempting such structures from the rigors of the EIA had no rationale or objective.

Vanashakti, a Mumbai-based NGO working to protect the environment, had approached the court challenging the January 2025 Notification of EIA. As per Vanashakti, the new rules of the Act diluted the previous provisions by exempting some construction projects from certain general conditions of the EIA.

While the court struck down the exemption regarding environmental clearances before construction, it refused to interfere with the rest of the provisions mentioned in MoEFCC’s January Notification.

The court noted that the list of general conditions were never applied to construction projects with an area of 20,000sq.m to 150,000 sq.m and townships or area development projects spread over 50 hectares or more or having built-up area of 1.50 lakh sq-mtr or above.

The bench said that Indian courts have insisted upon protecting the environment and consistently held that the natural resources are to be guarded by present generations for future generations. “However, the courts have also consistently taken into consideration the need for developmental activities,” the bench said, adding, “A country cannot progress unless the development takes place.”

_{Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.}