Chandigarh’s first bulk material market in Sector 56 (West) has received environmental clearance from the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority, allowing the UT Estate Office to begin execution of the long-pending project. The approval includes conditions covering air and water quality, noise, waste management, stormwater drainage and maintenance of green cover.
The Chandigarh Administration had applied for the clearance through the Union environment ministry’s online portal in April. The proposal was subsequently referred to SEIAA and assessed across environmental parameters before approval was granted, according to an approval letter issued to the assistant estate officer-II of the Estate Office.
SEIAA said the proposal had been appraised by the State Expert Appraisal Committee, Chandigarh, in accordance with the procedure under the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006. The committee recommended environmental clearance for the proposed Bulk Material Market at Sector 56 (West), after which the authority granted the approval.
The clearance places specific obligations on the administration during construction and on plot owners who may carry out activities with additional environmental impacts. SEIAA has directed the project to maintain air-quality monitoring and preservation measures, monitor water quality, control noise, manage waste and protect green cover at the site.
The approval also states that the project is expected to generate no trade effluent. If an individual plot owner undertakes a process that produces trade effluent, that owner will have to install an effluent treatment plant within the plot and obtain separate approvals from the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee under the Air and Water Acts.
Stormwater management is another condition attached to the clearance. Water generated at the project site during rainfall must be collected through an internal stormwater drainage network and connected to the existing stormwater drainage system of the municipal corporation. This makes drainage planning a formal part of the project’s implementation requirements rather than a separate post-construction measure.
The market plan follows physical surveys conducted by the administration in 2016 and 2018 of the existing Marble Market areas in Dhanas and Sarangpur. Those surveys identified 182 shops, including 162 marble shops and 20 miscellaneous establishments. The proposed Sector 56 facility is planned with 194 plots, exceeding the number of establishments recorded in the surveys.
The project is intended to consolidate bulk material-related activity in a designated facility. Its next stage is the on-ground execution by the UT Estate Office, which must implement the environmental conditions attached to the clearance as construction proceeds and as individual plots are developed.
