Supreme Court stops Pune’s Balbharati–Paud Phata link road until it gets environmental clearance.
Court orders Environment Ministry to expedite the clearance process.
Activists call the site an ecologically sensitive forest hill, while PMC claims minimal impact.
Pune, 16 October 2025: The Supreme Court on Wednesday put a stop to the construction of Pune’s proposed Balbharati–Paud Phata link road, also known as the ILS Hill Road project, until it receives environmental clearance. The road, planned through the Indian Law Society (ILS) campus and the Law College Hill area, has long faced opposition from environmental groups and local stakeholders.
A bench led by Chief Justice B. R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran directed the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to decide on the issue of granting environmental clearance “expeditiously.” The judges said that while development is important, it cannot come at the cost of the environment.
The court reviewed the case following petitions from environmentalist Sushma Date and an intervention by the Indian Law Society, the primary landowner involved. It was explicitly stated by the court that construction cannot commence until the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) authority officially provides approval.
Advocate Anitha Shenoy, representing Date, informed the court that the proposed road would traverse an ecologically vital forest area, which is part of Pune's natural landscape. She described the site as a 'pristine forest hill' with more than 400 tree species and a natural aquifer that supports the groundwater in western Pune.
Furthermore, she mentioned that consultants hired by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) recommended conducting a thorough, four-season Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) instead of a single-season study to better comprehend the site's biodiversity and hydrology.
Conversely, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing PMC, contended that the project was included in Pune's sanctioned development plan and did not need additional approval. He asserted that the road's route was planned to reduce ecological impact and would not damage the forested section of the hill.
'The route follows the lower slopes of the hill, not its summit,' he stated, emphasizing that the municipal authority recognized the environmental significance of the area.
However, the bench was not persuaded, noting that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had earlier concluded that a similar project on the same route required a thorough Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The judges questioned why a new EIA should not be mandatory in this case as well.
Senior advocate Devadatt Kamat, acting on behalf of ILS, informed the court that a 2005 ruling by the Bombay High Court, which upheld the status quo on the land acquisition, was still valid. He highlighted that Law College Hill had been meticulously conserved for almost a hundred years through afforestation efforts and continued to be one of Pune's few remaining natural green areas.
The Supreme Court's directive mandates that the ILS Hill Road project will be paused until it receives formal approval from environmental authorities, emphasizing the necessity for urban development to be in harmony with ecological conservation.