RAJENDRA BABU, J. - (1.) THE present petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India is the second round of legal action connected to the safety and environmental aspects of Tehri Dam before this Court.
(2.) THE petitioners herein firstly urge us to issue necessary directions to conduct further safety tests so as to ensure the safety of the dam. Secondly, they allege that the concerned authorities have not correspondingly complied with the conditions attached to the environmental clearance dated July 19, 1990 and want us to halt the project till the same is complied with. Lastly, they want us to look into the rehabilitation aspects. Subsequent to the filing of this petition few others joined as interveners. String of affidavits, counter-affidavits and other documents disclosing the minutest details have been presented. Oral submissions on both sides have been addressed at length. Before adverting to the contentions of safety, environmental clearance and rehabilitation, it is necessary to draw a demarcating line between the realm of policy and the permissible areas for judicial interference in the context of present case. For this, a brief factual survey is warranted. This is also necessary to appreciate the broader issues advanced before us. Investigation for the purpose of construction of a dam at Tehri for hydel power generation was commenced as early as in 1961. In the year 1972, the Planning Commission envisaged a cost of Rs. 197.92 crores and in 1976, administrative clearance to the project was given by the government of U.P. In March 1980, a direction was issued by the then Prime Minister for an in-depth review of the whole project. Consequently, an expert group was constituted by the Ministry of Science and Technology. The Prime Minister's note on the file reads as follows: "There are several proposals which were agreed to earlier but would need to be looked into again. Amongst them are Silent Valley, the dam in Tehri Garhwal and the dam in Lalpur, Gujarat. It seems that larger areas of very fertile land are being submerged without any commensurate gains. There may be other such cases also. It is true that these decisions have been taken over a period of time but there is great local distress and a feeling that contractors and other such groups will be the main gainers. Hence, it is necessary to have another look in depth."
(3.) IN May 1980, an interim report was submitted by the expert group and the final report was submitted in August 1986. Even though an expenditure of Rs.206 crores has been incurred, the expert committee recommended to abandon the project. Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) accepted the report in October 1986 and endorsed the view of the expert committee. IN November 1986, the erstwhile USSR offered administrative, technical and financial assistance on a turnkey basis and the Tehri Project was revived as recipient of such aid. IN November 1986, a protocol was signed with USSR for providing technical and financial assistance for this project to the tune of 1000M Roubles. Thus the need to obtain environmental clearances even in the absence of environmental action plans became urgent so as to quickly complete all administrative and technical formalities. IN January 1987, the government announced in the press that it has cleared the project after a thorough assessment of the impact of the project on environment and after satisfying themselves that the adverse impact on environment can be remedied, a general agreement was signed in Moscow and it was decided that the dam construction would be carried out jointly by Soviet and INdian engineers. Thereafter, the project, which was initially executed by the Irrigation Department of the government of U.P. has been taken over by the joint venture company of the government of INdia and the government of U.P. The company was called Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Ltd (THDC). IN July 1989, MoEF revised cost estimates and released further funds, conditional to its prior environmental clearance. Accordingly, THDC formulated environment action plans for consideration and assessment by MoEF. IN February 1990, the Environmental Appraisal Committee, MoEF concluded that the Tehri Dam Project, as proposed, should not be taken up as it does not merit environmental clearance. Subsequently, On July 19, 1990, conditional clearance to the project was given by MoEF. It was specifically provided that completion of status, formulation of action plans and their implementation will be scheduled in such a manner that their execution is pari-passu with the construction, failing which the engineering works would be brought to a halt and this condition will be enforced among others under the provisions of the Environment Protection Act, 1986. The petitioners raised the question before us that when a decision had been taken in 1990 to abandon the project as to how clearance could be given on July 19,1990? Again they pointed out that on 21.10.1994 serious consequences of the implementation lagging behind was taken note of but the project was allowed to continue.;