Eastcoast power company violates Supreme court orders says Mr EAS Sharma

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E.A.S.Sarma Visakhapatnam

14-40-4/1 Gokhale Road March 1, 2011

Maharanipeta

Visakhapatnam 530002

Tel. Nos. 0891-6619858/ 9866021646

To

Shri Jairam Ramesh

Minister of State

Ministry of Environment & Forests

Govt. of India

Dear Shri Ramesh,

Subject:- Kakarapalli- East Coast Energy Pvt. Ltd. (ECEPL)- Illegal allotment of a wetland for a power project

I welcome your statement today that MOEF would review ECEPL’s Environment Clearance based on a reexamination of the circumstances that led to its issue.

I thought I should refresh your memory with the following facts.

I refer to my letters dated 2^nd & 3^rd of February, 2011 to Environment Secretary and my letter dated 24^th of February to the Chief Minister of AP on the subject. Copies of the correspondence are with you. However, I enclose the same for your ready reference.

Your Ministry is committed to conserve wetlands as enunciated in the National Environment Policy (NEP) approved by the Union Cabinet. Allotment of wetlands to industry is therefore ab initio illegal.

The Revenue records of the State Govt. classified the project site as a part of a wetland system. This is corroborated by the reports of the Forest Dept. and the Fisheries Dept. The fact that the site was in a wetland prohibited for industry under the State’s Revenue Dept.’s regulations was suppressed by the District Collector

The report of Asad Rahmani & Asha Rajvanshi to the National Wild Life Board in December, 2009 confirmed the fact that the land allotted to ECEPL was in fact a wetland.

The NEAA, in its order dated 7-9-2010 recognised the site as a part of a wetland system.

I enclose a copy of a far reaching order pronounced by Hon’ble Supreme Court in Civil Appeal 1132/2011 in SLP © No. 3109/2011 which clearly directed the States not to divert any public land including a wetland for any kind of construction activity. The State has violated that order, as pointed out by me in my letter of 28-2-2011 (enclosed).

As repeatedly pointed out by me in the letters written earlier, ECEPL had violated the assurances given to EAC to wangle Environment Clearance (EC) in regard to surrender 500 acres of land and retain only 1960 acres. The company has surreptitiously, in collusion with APIIC, has retained a much larger chunk of land.

ECEPL has also apparently violated the conditions laid down by NEAA as pointed out by me.

More important, the local farmers are upset because ECEPL has constructed an unauthorized bund flooding the adjacent lands. The fishermen are upset because ECEPL has deprived them of their age old tradition right to fish.

It is untenable to allow ECEPL to squat on the wetland. It violates Article 48A of the Constitution and the avowed environment policy of the government. The company has violated its own Constitutional obligation under Article 51A.

Prior EC for starting work at the site is a mandatory requirement that cannot be relaxed. In the instant case, that requirement was allowed to be relaxed.

The company mocked at every law of the land throughout and got away with it as a result of its influence over the authorities at every level.

I request you to keep these facts in view while taking a decision today. I am confident that you will go to the rescue of the unfortunate fishing community of Vaddetandra and the people of the other villages who are opposed to the project.

Regards,

Yours sincerely

E.A.S.Sarma

Former Secretary to GOI