The ministry of environment finds itself in an embarrassing situation with its own 11-member expert panel, led by Ravi Chopra, questioning how the Lakhwar-Vyasi hydro-project was given clearance in violation of the Supreme Court’s directive of August 13 2013. The 420-MW hydro-project on the upper Yamuna was given clearance in February 2014 and was one of the several projects which former environment minister Veerappa Moily hurriedly cleared without due diligence, the expert team pointed out.Mr Gyani, a member of the expert panel, said in the report that the Lakhwar-Vyasi project was granted clearance more than 25 years ago, when no proper environmental impact assessment studies and environmental management plans were being conducted. These studies, he said, have, however, become mandatory for all projects today. The ministry of environment and forests’ version was that this was not a new permission and therefore there was no need to get a fresh EIA. Some of the expert panel members believe the reason why the project received fresh impetus was because it had been declared a national project with 90 per cent of its multi-crore funding coming from the Central government. Earlier, in 1992, the project, which then came under the Uttar Pradesh government, was stalled due to a paucity of funds. The expert panel soundly blamed hydro-projects for aggravating the impact of the Uttarakhand catastrophe of June 2013 and for the large-scale environmental degradation in the state.The panel, which submitted its report last month, came down heavily on the tunnelling, barraging and construction work that accompanied these hydel projects