FBV plea to Jairam Ramesh

http://www.hindu.com/2011/03/03/stories/2011030362660500.htm

FBV plea to Jairam Ramesh

Special Correspondent

VISAKHAPATNAM: Forum for Better Visakha convener E.A.S. Sarma asked Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh to be firm on cancelling clearances accorded to the thermal power plant being set up at Kakarapalli.

Hailing Mr. Ramesh's statement in Parliament, Mr. Sarma, a former IAS officer, expressed his satisfaction over the admission by the Minister that the project was located within a wetland system.

MoEF order

“It was factually a correct statement. This is what the National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA) had categorically stated in its order of July 9, 2010. This is an issue on which NEAA had come to a clear finding. Unless it is challenged, it cannot be reopened by anyone, neither by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) nor by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC).”

MoEF in its Monday's order asked the East Coast Energy Pvt. Ltd to stop construction work immediately and sought a status report from the State government. It stated that the EAC at its meeting scheduled on March 7 will discuss the compliance of conditions laid down in the environmental clearance given to the company.

Mr. Sarma, a former Union Power Secretary, said the National Environment Policy approved by the Union Cabinet had mandated the conservation of wetlands in accordance with the Constitutional directive under Article 48A.

“As the Minister in charge of MoEF, you are bound by the spirit of that Article and the avowed policy of the government. You have no freedom to find “tradeoffs” between environment and an ongoing project,” he stated in the letter.