On Jan. 10, the court urged India’s federal and state governments to place environmental preservation ahead of urban development. It was hearing a plea by residents of the northern city of Chandigarh, who are resisting the administration’s practice of converting single residential units into apartments.

“The warning flagged by the city of Bengaluru needs to be given due attention by the legislature, executive, and policymakers,” a bench of two justices said.1 “It is high time that, before permitting urban development, EIA (environmental impact assessment) of such development needs to be done.”

....

• 1. Make Environmental Impact Assessment Mandatory For Urban Development, Recommends Supreme Court; Cites Condition Of Bengaluru As Warning: A Division Bench comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and BV Nagarathna was hearing a plea by a residents’ welfare association against the rampant practice prevalent in Chandigarh city of converting single residential units into apartments, which, the petitioner had claimed, irrevocably altered the character of the first planned city of India, and overburdened the existing infrastructure and facilities. A ‘proper balance’ between sustainable development and environmental protection also needed to be struck, Justice Gavai said, while stated in the judgement. The Bench further urged the appropriate governmental organs to promulgate necessary provisions for carrying out Environmental Impact Assessments before permitting urban development. “We hope the Union of India as well as the state governments will take earnest steps in this regard,” Justice Gavai said. The matter travelled to the top court in an appeal against a 2021 verdict of the Punjab and Haryana High Court upholding the share-wise or floor-wise sale of houses in the northern sectors of Chandigarh which were designed by famous Swiss-French architect, Le Corbusier, and had received a World Heritage site tag from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The appellant-association claimed that the union territory administration turned a blind eye to residential units surreptitiously being converted into apartments, even after the controversial Chandigarh Apartment Rules, 2001 regularising this practice, was withdrawn in the face of a massive public furore. Apart from expressing its concern about the danger posed by such development to the city’s heritage status, the petitioner also highlighted the increasing encroachment of green areas and the adverse impact of the thoughtless expansion and re-densification of Phase I of the city.