The Environment Ministry cancelled the 2009 clearance for a Chandigarh commercial project, while the developer disputes the ministry's reading of the eco-sensitive zone and has moved the NGT.
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- The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change revoked the Environmental Clearance for Godrej Eternia, a commercial project at Industrial Area Phase I, Chandigarh, on September 30, 2026.
- The original Environmental Clearance had been issued on February 26, 2009, and the revocation took effect immediately.
- The ministry says the site falls within a 10-km radius of the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary, requiring prior recommendation from the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife.
- According to the ministry's findings, construction was completed without obtaining the required wildlife clearance.
- On May 22, 2023, the State Board for Wildlife, Chandigarh, chaired by the Punjab Governor and UT Administrator, ordered a committee to probe compliance lapses.
- On December 21, 2023, the Chandigarh Department of Environment told the Union ministry that all construction had been carried out without prior wildlife clearance.
- The ministry issued a show-cause notice to the developer on May 14, 2024, before taking the final action.
- Godrej Properties denies any violation and says its Environmental Clearance did not require National Board for Wildlife clearance.
- The company says the project is 6.6 km from the sanctuary boundary and therefore outside the notified eco-sensitive zone.
- It cites a January 18, 2017 Chandigarh Gazette notification that fixed the eco-sensitive zone at a maximum of 2.75 km from the sanctuary.
- Godrej Properties has appealed to the National Green Tribunal, noting that the revocation came about ten years after the project was completed.
- In July 2024, the Chandigarh administration had separately revoked the building plans and occupation certificate of the same property.




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