At times,I am forced to regularise illegality

I am completely against regularising an illegality

Despite having shown the rule-book to many a mighty project,Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday said in many instances he had to tolerate violations of green laws and regularise illegalities.

I am completely against regularising an illegality. But sometimes I am forced to. A steel plant has been built or a power project has been constructed…violations are detected afterwards. I cannot shut them down. Hundreds of crores are invested. There are livelihood issues, Ramesh said at a function of the All India Management Association here.

A violation of law has to be prevented at the start. It is very difficult to correct it later. They become fait accompli and sometimes there is little option but to look for a compromise. I have had to make compromises on some projects, he said.

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Ramesh did not name the projects in which he had to make such compromises.

Asked about the Adarsh Housing Society in Mumbai,where additional floors have been built in violation of environmental laws,Ramesh said his ministry had concluded that there was no need to compromise in this case. He said the matter was in court and therefore his ministry was waiting for the courts verdict. The Environment Ministry has already ordered the demolition of the 32-storeyed structure.

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