Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) has approached the Madras High Court seeking a direction to Puducherry Planning Authority (PPA) to issue completion-cum-occupancy certificate for 49,479 square metres of additional construction without insisting upon prior environmental clearance from the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Authority.
The writ petition has been listed for hearing before a Division Bench of Justices S.S. Sundar and N. Senthilkumar on Monday. In an affidavit filed on behalf of the institute, its Director Rakesh Aggarwal said, the EIA Notification 2016 makes it clear that no prior environmental clearance was required for constructions up to 1.5 lakh square meters put up by hospitals and educational institutions.
The affidavit, filed through advocate Sunita Kumari, stated that the Centre had established JIPMER in Puducherry in 1964 to cater to the needs millions of people, particularly the poor. Being one of the premier postgraduate medical institutions in the country, it was situated on a campus spread over 195 acres. In 2008, it was designated as an institute of national importance by an Act of the Parliament.
