Lavasa Corporation’s case for allowing a green signal to its Rs 3,000-crore hill city project near Pune, under threat from the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), will be heard by the latter on December 22 and an order issued by December 31.
Menawhile, said the ministry, its stop-work order of November 25 would continue in force. Lavasa, part of the Hindustan Construction Company, had appealed to the High Court at Mumbai, which asked it to hear the company’s contentions before finally deciding. Today, the ministry reiterated there were serious issues such as lack of legal clearances, large-scale environmental degradation, issues of waste water management and replacement of natural forests with a concrete jungle.
“The project is located in the Western Ghats, which is ecologically sensitive and fragile and development of this magnitude should not be permitted without proper assessment and safeguards,” the order added.
Stone-crushing activity for Lavasa was polluting the area and impacting the vegetation and the ongoing blasting and cutting of hills were adding to the environmental problems of the area. The ministry noted these charges would have to be answered.
The ministry had given a stop-work order to Lavasa on November 25, challenegd by the company in the HC. The ministry has to file a report to the HC by Thursday.
In a meeting last week in response to the ministry's showcause notice slapping a ban on further construction at the hill project, Lavasa officials gave a presentation on the various steps being taken at the site for environment protection.
In its statement on the issue today, Lavasa said: “MoEF’s interim order is made without objective verification and physical site assessment. It simply repeats the unsubstantiated and generic claims made by Medha Patkar through the National Alliance of People’s Movements, even verbatim in some cases.
Lavasa has been developed according to measurable norms stipulated in the Special Regulations for Hill Stations, 1996. In fact the MoEF has accepted in its interim order that “The Government of Maharashtra vide their letter dated 18th March 2004, issued environmental clearance for an area of 2,000 ha.”
We are anguished because despite having repeatedly requested MoEF for measurable and objective norms that guide developmental activities, their order is shrouded by statements of NAPM, which are bereft of facts or credible data.
As stated in our response to MoEF on November 28 and our subsequent writ petition in the Bombay High Court, we reiterate that the MOEF has issued these instructions under pressure from political activists like NAPM.
Whilst they have generically stated that ‘there are serious issues that emerge’, they have not made factual conclusions, thus leading to misrepresentation.”
