West Bengal Pollution Control Board

The ongoing clash between the Union government and the Bengal government, escalating in the run-up to the upcoming national election, has now incorporated environment as a pivotal point of contention.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Kalyani, West Bengal, set to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 25, 2024, is reportedly functioning without obtaining the mandatory environmental clearance (EC), as per officials from the state pollution control board.

The hospital is set to be inaugurated by PM Modi virtually on February 25 afternoon in presence of West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose and several Union government ministers.

The medical institute is the first AIIMS in the state, however, it is supposed to be closed under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, said officials of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB).

WBPCB Chairman Kalyan Rudra and other officials alleged AIIMS Kalyani is spread over 20,000 square metres and has been constructed without taking the clearance. As per the directives from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), any project exceeding 20,000 sqm must obtain environmental clearance in advance.

WBPCB Chairman Kalyan Rudra and other officials at media meet on AIIMS Kalyani. Photo: Jayanta Basu

The statutory organisation under state government emphasised that the breach cannot be legalised at this point, citing two consecutive Supreme Court rulings that have nullified the regularisation provision introduced by the central government a few years ago for ease of carrying out businesses.

Subhas Sarkar, Bharatiya Janata Party member, Minister of State for Education and member of AIIMS governing body, countered the allegation. “WBPCB is playing politics to stop an institution of public interest and that too just before PM Modi is set to inaugurate virtually,” he said.

Illegal building

“Any building with more than 20,000 sqm needs environment clearance as per MoEFCC norm. AIIMS Kalyani, which is set to be inaugurated on Sunday, does not have the mandatory clearance,” said Rudra on February 24, 2024 in a media meet held at state PCB head office at Salt Lake. 

When questioned, Rudra confirmed that the ongoing operation of the hospital, in the absence of environmental clearance, should be considered as illegal.

“The building has been constructed without taking the clearance, and presently, we cannot regularise the violation post facto and give permission as SC has recently cancelled such an option of regularisation in Environment Protection Act, 1986 that was earlier brought on by MoEFCC through two orders,” added Rudra.

He mentioned that approximately 25 projects in the state and numerous others across the country are facing similar repercussions as a result of the SC order.

Chronology of development

HSCC India Ltd, which was entrusted with the assignment to construct AIIMS Kalyani, applied for environmental clearance under ‘violation’ category on October 6, 2022. However, the hospital complex started operating in 2019. The State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC), responsible for assessing applications, recommended it for a clearance but slapped it with a penalty of around Rs 15.1 crores as per the norm.

Following this, the project proponent appealed to the State-level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), a higher authority than SEAC, to exempt the hospital from the penalty. However, the authority rejected the request based on the observation of the MoEFCC to which the letter had been forwarded for clarification. The matter was subsequently referred back to SEAC on February 16, 2024.

“Further to note that the SC through its orders dated January 2, 2024 and February 2, 2024 has stayed the operation of the Office Memorandum dated July 7, 2021 and January 20, 2022 issued by MoEFCC (about post facto regularisation of Environment Clearance-related violations),” pointed out a WBPCB communication.

“… therefore, considering the above-mentioned order of the SC, the environment clearance for the project cannot be considered at this stage as the project is under violation category,” it added.

Playing politics

“The West Bengal government is creating roadblocks for a hospital with political purposes by abusing power through the environment department,” claimed Sarkar, alleging that WBPCB has not shared any correspondence in the recent past on this issue.

“The latest release of PCB clearly reflects the negative attitude of the West Bengal establishments and against public interest… this kind of obstructionism is reprehensible. So many AIIMS in India are being run in an environment friendly way and AIIMS Kalyani will also work in compliance with all environmental pollution norms,” Sarkar told this reporter on February 24.

The minister characterised the absence of environmental clearance as a communication lapse and accused WBPCB of exploiting it to obstruct a noble and important project in West Bengal.

“What measures is the PCB taking to curb widespread environmental violations throughout the state, aside from attempting to halt the functioning of a hospital,” asked Sarkar.

There are also questions as to why the matter of environmental clearance has surfaced at the eleventh hour, just before the official inauguration.

“The construction has started in 2016, academics began in 2019, outdoor patient service in 2021 and indoor patient services began in 2013,” asked a senior official of AIIMS, adding that the hospital now caters to 2,000 patients daily outdoors; and 400 patients indoors though it has provision of close to 1,000 beds.

“We are presenting this information now for the sake of clarity and transparency, responding to inquiries raised about its environmental status,” explained Rudra when questioned about why the PCB has raised the issue at the last moment.

The director of AIIMS Kalyani, Ramji Singh, asserted that the institution has furnished all necessary documents, and the hospital would persist in its operations despite lacking environmental clearance, citing it as being in the public interest.