India’s Environment Ministry gives clearance to halted hillside construction project

New Delhi : India’s Environment Ministry gave its conditional approval on Wednesday for a massive hillside housing project which it had halted a year earlier for violating altitude restrictions and failing to obtain environmental permits.

Activists have alleged that state officials had allowed construction on the site in western Maharashtra state to begin without permits because the agriculture minister’s daughter once held a stake in the $565 million project. Authorities are investigating the allegation.

The Environment Ministry said its approval will require that the developers, Hindustan Construction Co., strictly comply with all environmental and height regulations.