Guj HC notice to APSEZ on PIL seeking R&R package for affected villages

A further hearing by the division bench has been scheduled in third week of November

Gujarat High Court on Thursday issued notice to Adani Port and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) Ltd and the state government over a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a comprehensive rehabilitation and re-settlement (R&R) package of those villages affected by the project in the Mundra block of Kutch district.

 

A division bench of Chief Justice Bhakar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala while issuing notice to APSEZ scheduled further hearing in the third week of November. 

 

The PIL has been filed by group of villagers under the banner of Mundra Port and SEZ and Industries affected Citizens Rehabilitation Action Committee through their lawyer Siraj Gori. The petitioners have contended that because of the APSEZ and other industries in the Mundra region their livelihood has been affected in terms of loss in agriculture land, salinity ingress, decrease in fishing activities to name a few.

 

The litigation has been based on findings of a five-member committee, headed by environmentalist Sunita Narain, and included officials from the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) and experts on coastal ecosystems and disaster management. The committee in its report of April this year had held that millionaire Gautam Adani promoted APSEZ has violated environmental clearance conditions and recommended imposition of penalty. It had recommended formation of a Rs 200 crore Environment Restoration Fund which will be used for remediation of environmental damage in Mundra and for strengthening the regulatory and monitoring systems.

 

The MoEF has already accepted the report and issued a show cause notice to APSEZ with regard to the finding and conclusions of the report.

 

Appearing for the petitioners, Gori argued that though the committee had recommended Rs 200 crore for environment restoration, there was nothing for the villages affected due to the project and some communities have even lost their livelihood. Hence, a direction has been sought from the court for a comprehensive rehabilitation and resettlement package for the villages affected by the APSEZ.

 

The PIL has also claimed that because of activities of APSEZ in the creek region there has been large-scale salinity ingress that has seeped into village bore-wells and hampered agriculture.  

 

In April this year, MoEF committee had held that there was incontrovertible evidence that the Adani project – port and SEZ – at Mundra in Gujarat had violated and not complied with environmental clearance conditions. The company has also bypassed environmental procedures in certain cases. After inspecting the site the committee had concluded that there were cases of non-compliance, which include widespread destruction of mangroves, where 75 hectares of mangroves have been lost in Bocha Island, which was declared as a conservation zone under the environmental clearance conditions.

 

The committee had recommended cancellation of environmental clearance of the North Port – which could lead to an increase in the mangrove conservation area and ensure ecological balance in this coastal zone. It had further recommended, "The ministry should create an Environment Restoration Fund, which should be 1% of the project cost (including the cost of the thermal power plant) or Rs 200 crore, whichever is higher. The Fund should be used for remediation of environmental damage in Mundra and for strengthening the regulatory and monitoring systems."