The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Tamil Nadu State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) to reconsider the rejection of a proposed rough stone and gravel quarry near Vallanadu Blackbuck Sanctuary in Thoothukudi district.

It directed the authority to reconsider the application with appropriate safeguards, observing that blackbucks were “very timid and shy animals” that could be affected by human disturbance.

In an appeal filed by Raja Jebadoss, the Bench comprising Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and expert member Prashant Gargava quashed SEIAA’s April 11, 2023 order rejecting the proposal and remitted the matter to the authority for fresh consideration within six weeks after granting the project proponent a personal hearing.

The proposed quarry covers 6.02.5 hectares in Padmanabamangalam village in Srivaikundam taluk. According to official records, the site is located about 1.92 km from Vallanadu Blackbuck Sanctuary and around 1.44 km outside its Eco-Sensitive Zone.

However, the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) recommended rejection of the proposal, stating that blackbucks frequently moved outside the sanctuary to graze and could risk getting trapped in the mining area even if fencing was installed. Accepting this recommendation, the SEIAA rejected the application for environmental clearance in April 2023.

Challenging the decision before the NGT, the appellant contended that the quarry site lay outside the Eco-Sensitive Zone and beyond the one-kilometre protected distance from wildlife sanctuaries prescribed by the Supreme Court. The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden had also stated that prior approval from the National Board for Wildlife was not required as the site fell outside the notified Eco-Sensitive Zone.

The Bench, however, noted that the proposal had been rejected solely on apprehensions about possible blackbuck movement outside the sanctuary. “Even as per the research papers referred to by the SEIAA – Tamil Nadu, the blackbucks are very timid and shy animals. Any kind of anthropogenic disturbance will have an adverse effect,” it observed.

If that was the case, the authority should consider providing appropriate protection for the animals while permitting the project by imposing suitable conditions instead of rejecting the proposal outright, it added.

Holding that mitigation measures had not been examined, the Bench set aside SEIAA’s rejection and directed the authority to reconsider the proposal and pass fresh orders.