Residents Assembly TDC reg Crown NGT report, 9 August 2022
Dear Community,
The Joint Committee appointed by the National Green Tribunal will finalise its report on trees and waterways / catchment areas in the path of the Crown in the coming days. Our team wants to re-state that irrespective of what the report suggests or permits, there is still an RA Decision in place, in which it was decided by a large number of members of the Residents’ Assembly in the January 2022 RAD (https://auroville.org.in/article/89003.) “To pause all clearing, infrastructure laying and permanent construction work on the Right of Ways of Crown, Radials and Outer Ring in order to enable the community to define a way forward for Auroville’s development, following:
• collective processes,
• the ‘Master Plan: Perspective 2025’ framework,
• and other relevant regulations.
The outcome shall be approved through a ratified Residents’ Assembly Decision-making process, before the above specified clearing, infrastructure laying and permanent construction work resumes”.
Therefore, any work being carried out on the Crown is in violation of the RA decision.
This is especially important now for the Darkali stretch, with the many trees and water catchments at risk. We wish that concerned Aurovilians visit the large and unplanned clearing and de-facto highway that is being installed in Bliss / Youth Centre without any community involvement, transparency of process and planning, appointment of contractors, quality-control etc. to see and decide if Darkali should fall to the same fate. All this ongoing work is in our opinion in clear violation of the present NGT ruling and the above mentioned RAD of January 2022.
The Dreamweaving was a big step in the direction of collective planning and brought forward many interesting and viable ideas for the way the Crown can be built with support from all parts of the community. Unfortunately, this was not taken forward by the Auroville Foundation office despite being the most able process followed so far that could lead to something that everyone is happy with. Given the cooperation of all concerned this process can still be taken forward to satisfy the needs of the whole community at large.
in Service,
L’avenir d’Auroville – TDC
Allan B, Anan, Divya L, Dorle, Fabian, Island, Lata, Meera N, Natasha S, Tom G
For full report read pdf below: