Former Minister Vatti Vasant Kumar and WUA leader K. Trinath Reddy challenged Inter-Linking of Rivers proposed by A.P. before National Green Tribunal (NGT) in New Delhi on Thursday.
They listed environmental violations committed by A.P. in the petition. The NGT did not accept the petition initially on the grounds that the said activity was under the jurisdiction of the Chennai tribunal.
But when the petitioners took the petition to the notice of NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, the petition was accepted.
Counsel appearing for Mr. Vasanth informed the four-member Bench headed by Justice Goel that the registry declining to receive the petition though the affected parties come under four zones of NGT. Justice Goel stated that the order of the registry could be challenged before the four-member Bench.
The NGT registry reportedly accepted the appeal only after the Bench looked at the petition by categorising the it as “under scrutiny”.
The petitioners, meanwhile, brought to the notice of the tribunal that Pattiseema, Purushothapatnam, Chithalapudi LI and Godavari-Penna linkage lacked the mandatory clearances from CWC and Ministry of Environment. These projects were causing severe loss to 10 lakhs Godavati Delta farmers and also causing environmental degradation, the petitioners said.
