Modi flagged off Varanasi tent city project without Clean Ganga clearance

On January 13 this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the luxurious tent city on the floodplains of the Ganga in his constituency Varanasi, and flagged off the Ganga river cruise. Marvelling at the temporary structures with five-star facilities, Modi said: “This newly built, spectacular tent city is another reason for the visit of domestic and international tourists and devotees to Varanasi.”

But ten months on, the National Mission for Clean Ganga or NMCG – the nodal agency for restoration, rejuvenation and management of the Ganga and its tributaries under the Union ministry of Jal Shakti – has now told the National Green Tribunal that the project lacked a clearance as the Varanasi Development Authority did not take its approval.

No construction, temporary or permanent, is allowed on the floodplains of the Ganga or its tributaries, according to the notified rules under the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities Order 2016. The rules say that temporary structures can be erected in “exceptional circumstances” – during natural calamities or religious events – but only with “prior permission” from NMCG.

The NMCG, however, said it received an application from VDA for approval only on April 21 this year, three months after the project became operational. 

In March, one Tushar Goswami had approached the NGT, alleging that the tent city spread over “100 hectares” was in violation of the 2016 order, which prohibits construction on the riverbed. The tribunal had then formed a seven-member expert panel, comprising government officials, to probe the matter. It was during the hearing of this case that the NMCG shared its reply with the NGT last week.

In its reply on October 26, the NMCG said: “Application for the ‘prior approval’ for the project ‘Development of the Tent City in Varanasi’ has been made after the project has already been implemented at site in year 2022. The application for the year 2022 has not been considered as there only exist provisions for ‘prior approval’ in the Ganga Authority Notification 2016.”

But in the next sentence of its response, which was shared with the NGT in an affidavit on October 27, the NMCG proposed that the VDA could seek approval next year with an environment impact study. It recommended that VDA may reduce the size of the project site by 40 percent, and that project proponents comply with environmental norms.

The project still lacks that permit. “NMCG reserves the right to revoke the permission granted, without assigning any reasons,” it stated. 

The project and two Gujarat-based firms 

As part of the project, a total of 260 tents have been set up on a patch of 30 hectares of floodplains, just 60 metres from the Ganga and adjacent to Varanasi’s Assi Ghat, with per night stay in each facility costing as much as Rs 40,000. According to the committee formed by the NGT earlier this year, these were set up as part of two separate PPP projects executed by two Gujarat-based companies – Praveg Communications (India) Limited and Lallooji and Sons.

In its report, the committee said both companies did not have consent to operate, thereby “violating” the pollution control board guideline under the “Water and Air Acts”. “The committee observed that the project is operational without getting consent to operate from UPPCB, violating the condition number four of the consent to establish which clearly states that the industry will not start its operation unless CTO is obtained under water and air Act,” stated the report.

The committee observed that temporary structures were made of “wooden planks, ply boards fixed to iron channels, frames and canvas placed over the sandy river bed”. It further said that light earth moving machines may have been used to level sand and for “minor excavation”. The companies have also used brick and mortar for construction of sumps and tanks, in alleged violation of the environmental rules, it said.

According to the tender documents, the project proponents were required to dismantle the structure during monsoon.  

How it started

The Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh had in 2020 denotified the Turtle Wildlife Sanctuary in Varanasi, ostensibly paving the way for the tent city on the floodplains. It was done due “to low turtle count in Varanasi”.

After this project was conceptualised, the VDA issued a letter of intent to Praveg Communications and M/s Niraan the Tent City, a business concern of Lallooji and Sons, on December 1, 2022. There were three patches of floodplains on offer. Praveg bagged patch 2 and Lallooji 3. 

Patch 3 by default went to Lallooji as he was the only bidder. For each patch, the annual licence fee was Rs 1.21 crore. The agreement was for five years.

According to Praveg’s website, its business interests vary from event planning to hospitality to publication. Among its clientele, it counts various arms of Gujarat government and public sector undertakings. It also runs resorts in various parts of Gujarat: Rann, Dholavira and Narmada. Its home page shows that it has held “1000+ successful events” with a banner of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel. It also counts Vibrant Gujarat, Global Summit among its proudest moments.

An event management company from Gujarat, Lallooji and Sons’ portfolio is similar to Praveg’s. It has been involved in events such as Vibrant Gujarat, Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Rann Utsav, Prakash Parv and Kumbh Mela. It has developed a luxury tent city at the Statue of Unity in Kevadia, shows its website.       

In times of misinformation, you need news you can trust. We’ve got you covered. Subscribe to Newslaundry and power our work.