The Gujarat High Court on Thursday issued notices to Adani Power Ltd. (APL), the State government’s departments on a public interest litigation alleging environmental damage in Kutch district.
The petitioner Mangal Murji Ghadavi alleged that at the Mundra Port and Sepcial Economic Zone, APL was using the seawater for its power plant by boiling and adding several chemicals. The hot water was discharged into the sea without treatment and through a 20-feet-deep and 50-feet-wide channel. The PIL said the company did not build permanent intake and outfall channels for transporting water, thus violating environmental norms. “Not only the groundwater is spoiled and become saline but even the nearby land and the agricultural activity is affected due to the leakage in the channel,” the PIL states.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala asked APL, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Mundra Ports and Special Economic Zone, State government, and the State Forest and Environment department to file their replies by August 21.
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