'What appears weird is that the ministry has neither raised any fresh issue nor has it been able to spell out any concrete objection in its new letter. Yet the tenor of the letter is a veiled backtrack,' he alleged.

The ambitious project came into the spotlight after a residents' association of Noida moved a PIL before the apex court raising environment issues against the construction of the gigantic project that includes huge stone structures besides a 4-km long stone wall along the banks of the Yamuna river.

The apex court constituted the CEC to look into the issue following which the committee visited the site Aug 12. The union environment ministry was given a week's time to file its report, which was eventually submitted Aug 24.