The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has given the State Government one more month to file a counter-affidavit on the development of the new capital on the banks of the Krishna allegedly without conducting an appropriate environment impact assessment. The State Government was asked not to take up any activity in the capital region till that period.
The NGT had served notices on the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the State Government and the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) on May 28 and asked them to give a reply within two months.
The NGT gave one more month when lawyers appearing on behalf of the State Government said that they needed more time.
Pandalaneni Srimannarayana, who filed the petiton in the NGT, told The Hindu that the judge gave the extension only after lawyers representing Andhra Pradesh gave an undertaking that their client would not take up any activity in the capital area until August 28, the date of the next hearing. “This is tantamount to a stay,” he claimed.
Mr Srimannarayana was directed by the Supreme Court to approach the NGT when he filed a petition in the apex court, saying that the area chosen by the government for building a capital with several multi-storeyed buildings was earthquake- and flood-prone.
