case study3/2015

You are the Secretary of the Environment Department in Kalahandi district of Orissa. Presently you are involved in looking at the impact of the infrastructure projects on the environment, natural flora and fauna and tribal population.

About 20 km away from the district headquarters, your department have given the clearance to built a road of breadth 30 feet. Since the road run through the local forests area thus there is no permission to built road boarder than 30 feet. Soon after the road is built you come to know that the road accidents in the area have increase manifold, especially near the school. As a result many school children have lost their lives in past few months.

When you order an enquiry into the issue you found that the traffic on the 30 feet road is very high.  The cases of accidents of school children on this 30 feet road are increasing day by day.  The official permission to broaden the road would be difficult under the present norms and even if given would take no less than 2 months.

What should you do?