For decades, rather for centuries now we have been facing the heat of choosing a right balance between environment and infrastructure. The sad truth is that infrastructure keeps on winning with a sweeping majority always. Nobody gives a two bit damn about, how the environment is affected. But it’s interesting to note that some of the major property developments have also been stalled because of environment issues. This is majorly due to the gray areas surrounding sustainable development policies set by the government.
A few examples to throw more light into the gravity of the situation is,
• EIL (Environment Interest Litigation) against the proposed Pune Metro because the National Green Tribunal (NGT) feels that some of the routes overtake the river beds causing silt damage.
• In NCR millions of apartments violate the sanctity of the Okhla Bird Sanctuary and this is achieved through a MoEF notification.
• The Thane Municipal Corporation has made a proposal which will destroy 26 hectares of pure green in Sanjay Gandhi National Park for a road.
Many like Vineet Relia, MD, SARE Homes feel that India is rushing up the infrastructure ladder and it’s a good thing. The sad part is many of the rushing ignores the environment. In his own words, “Are we really so short of habitable land in urban India that we need to compromise on stated policies?” Relia has shared his position and views on this matter.
Manju Yagnik, VS, Nahar Group shares a different response by throwing light onto the fact of rapid development especially after the Modi regime but has been done with a focus on the environment also. She feels that most projects are taken after considering a lot of variables and factors like financials, connectivity, convenience etc… and certainly environment also plays a major role.
Looking at the way forward we have to concentrate on two major things. Better planning and green technologies should be the focus. Starting from planning to execution of projects environmental impact needs to be measured. There is a Native American proverb, “The earth is not inherited from our ancestors, it’s borrowed from our children.” Every development should happen keeping this proverb in our mind.
A few examples to throw more light into the gravity of the situation is,
• EIL (Environment Interest Litigation) against the proposed Pune Metro because the National Green Tribunal (NGT) feels that some of the routes overtake the river beds causing silt damage.
• In NCR millions of apartments violate the sanctity of the Okhla Bird Sanctuary and this is achieved through a MoEF notification.
• The Thane Municipal Corporation has made a proposal which will destroy 26 hectares of pure green in Sanjay Gandhi National Park for a road.
Many like Vineet Relia, MD, SARE Homes feel that India is rushing up the infrastructure ladder and it’s a good thing. The sad part is many of the rushing ignores the environment. In his own words, “Are we really so short of habitable land in urban India that we need to compromise on stated policies?” Relia has shared his position and views on this matter.
Manju Yagnik, VS, Nahar Group shares a different response by throwing light onto the fact of rapid development especially after the Modi regime but has been done with a focus on the environment also. She feels that most projects are taken after considering a lot of variables and factors like financials, connectivity, convenience etc… and certainly environment also plays a major role.
Looking at the way forward we have to concentrate on two major things. Better planning and green technologies should be the focus. Starting from planning to execution of projects environmental impact needs to be measured. There is a Native American proverb, “The earth is not inherited from our ancestors, it’s borrowed from our children.” Every development should happen keeping this proverb in our mind.
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