Dhabota industrial area faces green objections

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, May 1

The objections,  raised by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, in granting clearance to 515 bighas proposed to be developed as an industrial area in Dhabota in the Nalagarh industrial belt have hit the investment plans.

Though the case for seeking environment clearance had been submitted more than a year ago in March 2015  by the Department of Industries,  the file has been  returned at least four times with objections.

An objection has now been raised  on the proposed  38.7 hectare area   on which afforestation is supposed to be undertaken as the diversion  of forest land is involved. The ministry has pointed out that such activities should be undertaken on a non-forest area and not the degraded area as has been proposed. 

Since no compact non-forest land of requisite dimension is available, officials are on the lookout for at least 10 hectare patches as this was the minimum requirement, said Rajesh Sharma, Member Secretary, Industries Department, Nalagarh. 

Officials said they were trying to address the queries at the earliest so that this industrial area could be developed and investors could be readily given land. 

Since no large-sized plots were available, the investors were keenly awaiting the environmental clearance. The plots available in the exiting industrial areas were smaller in size and since the  state-owned plots did not require the stringent clearance under Section 118 of the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972, investors were awaiting clearance. 

The ministry had earlier raised objections on the proposals such as provision of captive housing for workers, shopping complex housing 15 shops selling essential daily use items for residents and similar issues for the Dhabota area.  

Issues like  the proposed axing of  2,506 trees were also raised by the ministry. Officials have also been directed to include the rainwater harvesting provision in the proposal.

Officials said these objections had been settled and they were now on the lookout for adequate non-forest land required for afforestation.

Director Industries Amit Kashyap said a large number of investors, including readymade garment manufacturers, had evinced interest in the area and they were trying to address the queries raised by the ministry for early environmental clearance.