The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Polavaram project: State assails NEAA order

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Thursday, Dec 27, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Polavaram project: State assails NEAA order

Legal Correspondent

‘The order is not applicable as it is not in accordance with the law’

HYDERABAD: The State government on Monday assailed the order of the National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA) cancelling the environmental clearance for the Polavaram multi-purpose project as being beyond its jurisdiction and not in accordance with the law.

This was stated by the Secretary, Irrigation and CAD (Projects) in an affidavit filed in the Andhra P.radesh High Court on Wednesday challenging the NEAA’s order. It said that the new rules issued in 2006 could not be made applicable. The arguments in the writ petition will be heard on Thursday.

Advocate General C. V. Mohan Reddy moved a Division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice Bilal Nazki and Justice T.C.H. Surya Rao in the first hour on Wednesday requesting that the case be taken up for hearing as there was an urgency for issue of interim orders. The Bench directed the registry to list the case before another Division Bench at 2.15 p.m.

The case came up for hearing before the Division Bench comprising Justice T. Meena Kumari and Justice G. Rohini. Before the Advocate General could start his submissions, the counsel appearing for Academy for Mountain Environics informed the court that a ‘vakalat’ had been filed on its behalf and requested the court to adjourn the case by two days so that the papers filed by the government could be studied in detail.

The government in its affidavit contended that the NEAA had come to the conclusion that no public hearing took place in the affected areas of Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

It claimed that significance of public hearing was lost and it may not serve any purpose at this stage .

It was claimed that Orissa and Chhattisgarh could not object as the project was being constructed in accordance with the Bachawat Tribunal’s award.

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