India, Oct. 8 -- National Green Tribunal (NGT) Western Zonal Bench has set aside the environmental clearance granted to a commercial project on Ganeshkhind Road, expressing strong displeasure over the manner in which the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and State Expert Appraisal Committee-III (SEAC-III) handled the case.

In its order pronounced on October 6, the tribunal said a "serious matter" had been dealt with in a "careless manner" and directed SEIAA, Maharashtra, to reconsider the project afresh in accordance with the law and the procedure applicable to violation-category projects.

A key issue was whether the project had undergone the mandatory scoping exercise and been issued project-specific terms of refere...