Protests greet MoEF panel

July 19, 2010 04:54 pm | Updated November 08, 2016 02:27 am IST - VISAKHAPATNAM:

A four-member committee, led by Regional Chief Conservator of Forests, Bangalore, K. Subhakar Reddy, deputed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to carry out a site inspection of the proposed Sompeta thermal power project met representatives of the Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC) at the Forest Department guest house here on Friday night.

Opposed

The visit of the committee was vehemently opposed by a group of NGOs working for the protection of wetlands and forest resources in the Agency.

When they questioned the panel members at the guest house on the purpose of their visit, Mr. Subhakar Reddy refused to specifically answer anything related to Sompeta, but said that they were mandated by the Union Ministry to study the complaints on four major issues received during the Green India Mission public consultation here on July 5.

The Minster for Environment and Forests had directed them to study all objections on wetlands acquisition, bauxite mining, alumina refinery and thermal power plants, he said, and added that a report would be given to the Director-General after their visit lasting till Monday in North coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Refusing to comment on the necessity or otherwise of the panel visiting Sompeta in view of the National Environment Appellate Authority quashing the Environmental Clearance, he said whatever the panel was asked to do, it would complete and go.

At Vana Vihar guest house, Samata executive director Rebbapragada Ravi, other NGO leaders Singamsetty Bhujanga Rao and Srinivas protested against the proposed visit of the panel to Sompeta.

The panel members said that they were ready to listen to their version also along with that of people allegedly responsible for the condition.

Other members of the panel present during the discussions with company officials were Additional Regional CCF Kaliatha Perumal, Visakhapatnam CCF N. Pradeep Kumar and Deputy CF Murali.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.