: The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by Poovulagin Nanbargal , a non-governmental organisation that sought the cancellation of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) nod granted to four units of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP).
Disposing of the application, the Bench comprising Justice P. Jyothimani and expert member P.S. Rao said since the Supreme Court in 2013 had already dealt with the issue, the NGT Bench did not have jurisdiction over the case.
Poovulagin Nanbargal had filed an application against the four new units of KKNPP (units 3 to 6)) and challenged the CRZ clearance, arguing that the agency that gave the clearance was not an authorised entity. “Engineers India Ltd is not authorised to prepare consultancy reports for nuclear power plants. The main ground of this case relates to this part,” counsel for Poovulagin Nanbargal had argued.
In 2012, clearance was granted to the units to enable Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) to proceed with the necessary work to start building the plants.
Since the company which did the audit was not an accredited agency as required by law to grant clearances for a nuclear plant, the clearance should be quashed or a fresh review through a competent authority should be carried out, the counsel had said.
NGO to approach SC
Poovulagin Nanbargal intends to move the Supreme Court against the NGT order.
“It is very unfortunate that the NGT has dismissed the petition challenging CRZ clearance given to units 3 to 6, stating that the Supreme Court has dealt with it. We would like to point out that the Supreme Court judgement was only for units 1 and 2 and not for 3 to 6. We had clearly established that the study was done by an unauthorised agency like Engineers India Ltd. We still resolve to appeal in the higher courts. We will leave no stone unturned in bringing out the shortcomings of the project,” G. Sundarrajan of Poovulagin Nanbargal told The Hindu .
