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NGT stays PRRLI works in forest area
The National Green Tribunal, Chennai bench, on Wednesday directed the Telangana State government not to undertake any works relating to Palamuru-Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation (PRRLI) project in the reserved forest area without obtaining any clearances.
​Hyderabad: The National Green Tribunal, Chennai bench, on Wednesday directed the Telangana State government not to undertake any works relating to Palamuru-Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation (PRRLI) project in the reserved forest area without obtaining any clearances.
The bench gave this direction while hearing the petition filed by B Harshvardhan of Hyderabad objecting to the government going ahead with works without obtaining the mandatory environmental clearances for the project.
Counsels for the petitioner Sanjay Upadhyaya and B Rachna Reddy informed the bench that construction activity was going on in the reserve forest area and they produced satellite images to prove this point.
They said this activity was going on in around 229 hectares of forest land. The Chief Minister’s statement in the State Assembly that the case in NGT is only a speed breaker and it cannot stop the government’s resolve to complete the project was cited by the counsels to show the contempt to the proceedings.
They submitted a CD of the video recording along with the translation of the speech for the perusal of the bench.
Senior counsel Parasaran and Telangana Additional Advocate General J. Ramchander Rao, appearing for the State, submitted that no works are being carried out in the reserve forest area since July 2016 when they had stopped the works after objections raised by the Forest Department.
They contended that the works being carried out presently are in the area outside the reserve forest. They acknowledged that there is a dispute between Revenue and Forest Departments in terms of the extent of reserve forest area.
They said necessary clearances relating to irrigation project would be taken in the coming period. The petitioner filed a Miscellaneous Application seeking appointment of an independent commission comprising of experts to study this project and submit a report whether the works being carried out are related to drinking water project or it is a guise for carrying on irrigation project works.
The NGT admitted the application and asked the Telangana government to file a counter affidavit. The counsels for the State of Telangana sought four weeks time to file the counter and accordingly the case was adjourned to April 17.
