Jog Development Projects

Jog Development Projects

Subject: Geography

Section: Mapping

Context:

Karnataka’s Forest Department, which was supportive of the Jog falls Development Projects and had recommended ‘in principal approval’ of environmental clearance for a five-star hotel, suffered a setback with the Centre questioning whether any environmental impact study has been carried out.

About the project

• Karnataka had submitted a proposal seeking diversions of 0.8536 hectares of forest land in Nadavada Talakalale village in Sagar taluk for the five-star hotel in lieu of the existing PWD guest house.
• The hotel was in addition to development of other facilities in the Jog Falls area.

Concerns about the project:

• The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has pointed out that the proposed development is amidst the fragile ecosystem of the Western Ghats.
• It has sought to know whether any environmental study has been conducted about the impact, and any precautionary measures have been incorporated in the proposed activities.
• The MoEF& CC also referred to a set of objections filed by Living Earth Foundation (LEAF), a Bengaluru-based environmental research and advocacy organisation.
• The LEAF had written to the MoEF& CC that forest clearance sought was for a 5-star hotel, but the project was not a mere standalone hotel. It entails development of Jog Falls as a tourist destination by constructing retail outlets, view decks, Central Island and landscape work, a ropeway, a grand entrance and a dedicated transit hub.
• For the purpose of obtaining Forest and Environmental Clearance, the project plan has been broken into several components, and statutory clearances have been sought in a piecemeal manner in a deliberate attempt to portray minimal impact by each component of the project plan.
• All the components of the project involve significant amounts of construction on forest land within the Eco Sensitive Zone of the newly expanded Sharavati Valley Lion Tailed Macaque Sanctuary.
• LEAF also stated that the increase in footfalls to the area throws up additional challenges like water consumption, increase in wet and dry waste, additional vehicular traffic and emission, lighting in the forest area due to vehicles, and no study had been conducted on their impact on wildlife.

What is Environmental Impact Assessment?

• EIA is an important process for evaluating the likely environmental impact of a proposed project. It is a process whereby people’s views are taken into consideration for granting final approval to any developmental project or activity. It is basically a decision-making tool to decide whether the project should be approved or not.
• The EIA process involves:
  • Screening: this stage decides which projects need a full or partial assessment study.
  • Scoping: this stage decides which impacts are necessary to be assessed. This is done based on legal requirements, international conventions, expert knowledge and public engagement. This stage also finds alternate solutions.
  • Assessment & evaluation of impacts and development of alternatives: this stage predicts and identifies the environmental impacts of the proposed project and also elaborates on the alternatives.
  • EIA Report: in this reporting stage, an environmental management plan (EMP) and also a non-technical summary of the project’s impact is prepared for the general public. This report is also called the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
  • Decision making: the decision on whether the project is to be given approval or not and if it is to be given, under what conditions.
  • Monitoring, compliance, enforcement and environmental auditing: monitoring whether the predicted impacts and the mitigation efforts happen as per the EMP.