In what could be termed as an exceptional public hearing or mockery of the system, Chhattisgarh government is going to record public opinion for environment clearances for a project that has not only completed but is in operation for years.
The Raigarh district administration in Chhattisgarh will be holding a public hearing on October 23 to get environment clearances for the 800 tonnes per hour (TPH) coal washery of Jindal Power Limited (JPL), a subsidiary of Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL), in Tamnar. But the coal washery for which the public hearing was convened has been completed and is in operation. "The project has been completed and is in operation since 2007 and we have lodged a written complaint with the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) stating that the public hearing for the said project stands meaningless," Ramesh Agrawal, the director of Raigarh-based Jan Chetana said.
The physical verification on the site stands testimony to the report about the completion of the project, Agrawal said, adding that they have submitted photographs of the constructed washery to the authorities concerned.
The Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board (CECB) had given conditional Consent for Establishment (CFE) of coal washery to JPL in February 2007. The JPL was supposed to obtain Environment Clearance from the Ministry by June 30, 2007 as per MoEF circular.
As JPL failed to obtain mandatory Environmental Clearance by June 30, 2007, the CFE issued in February 2007 became invalid and null as per the circular, Agrawal said in his complaint to the MoEF. But the company continued with the work.
After the expiry of CFE, CECB vide letter no. 4683 dated August 25, 2007 directed JPL to immediately stop work on the project. The CECB, however, failed to follow up the compliance of its order as the work continued for completion.
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Agrawal alleged that the public hearing had been convened to legalise the illegal completion of the project. The district administration, however, denied cancelling or postponing the public hearing even as hundreds of villagers Wednesday ghearoed the office of District Collector.
The public hearing will continue as per schedule as the company has received the terms of reference (TOR) for the project, Raigarh District Collector Ashok Agrawal told Business Standard. If anyone has objections, they are free to move the court of law, he added.
But CECB officials are cautious. The officials admitted that the project had been completed but were skeptical about the operation. "We have put the washery under observation and our surveillance teams are keeping close watch to get first hand report that it is in operation," CECB regional officer John Lakra said.