SC Permits Construction of Games Village

In what could be called a major relief to government, the Supreme Court has permitted contruction of Commonwealth Games Village in Delhi, stating that it did not infringe environmental norms as environmentalists have been blaming.

The judgment is likely to gear up the process of construction under which the village complex, consisting of more than a thousand super-deluxe flats, is coming up on the Yamuna River bed. The Games, are scheduled to be held in October 2010.

Environmentalists have been opposing the construction of the village, as it is allegedly coming up on a flood plain.

However, the apex court said that the CWG 2010 village was not located on the riverbed of the Yamuna River, and thereby, did not pose any threat to flora and fauna.

Earlier, on July 15, a bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice K.G.Balakrishnan reserved its verdict after hearing arguments supporting and opposing the ongoing construction of the Commonwealth Games Village with multi-storey apartment blocks, coming up allegedly on the Yamuna riverbed.

It should be noted that in an earlier law suit, the Delhi High Court, while allowing the ongoing construction, had also ordered the formation of a panel headed by noted environmental expert R K Pachauri to keep a tab on ecological impact of the construction.

The government came to the apex court opposing the formation of the Pachauri panel, as it wanted no strings attached to the construction. The apex court, while admitting the two sets of lawsuits last December, had allowed the construction to continue.

The Government counsel had argued that the project was ecologically sound and said it was adjacent to the Akshardham temple, whose construction was cleared by the environment and forests ministry considering that it was not on the riverbed.