The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has refused environmental clearance for the expansion of the Tata Mundra Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) in Kutch, Gujarat.
The project did not comply with conditions specified for the earlier phase, according to local activists in a press statement. The EAC cited non-compliance of environmental conditions during the earlier phase. According to the minutes of the meeting held on July 31 to August 1, the EAC said “Environmental clearance of existing UMPP show that some of the conditions like mangrove plantation, green belt etc. are either non-complied/partly complied.”
The EAC called for a site visit by a sub-committee for the issues regarding mangrove plantation etc. and for a detailed action plan for compliance of conditions stipulated in the environment clearance to the first phase and detailed action plan along with budgetary provisions for a public hearing.
The Coastal Gujarat Power Ltd (CGPL – Tata Mundra), a fully owned subsidiary of Tata Power has been planning to expand the existing 4000 MW ultra mega power project by adding another 1660 MW. The Machimaar Adhikaar Sangharsh Samiti (MASS), the local organisation of fishworkers affected by the power projects in Mundra, has been raising several issues related to the project for the past few years.
