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Status quo on works on SEZ land near Mundra port

Legal Correspondent

Mangroves and fishermen’s livelihood will be destroyed
Environmental impact assessment clearance
has not been obtained

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered status quo on construction activity on over 6,000 acres of land in the special economic zone (SEZ) near the Mundra Port in Gujarat.

Acting on a public interest litigation petition, a vacation Bench, consisting of Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice G.S. Singhvi, ordered notice to the respondents, including the Centre, Gujarat and the developers Adani Exports, returnable in four weeks.

“In the meantime parties are directed to maintain status quo on the lands in question,” it said after hearing Raksh Khanna, senior counsel for the petitioners.

Jat Imran Salim and six other petitioners said the land allotted by the State government for manufacture of salt from sea water and for a jetty in the port region was put into private hands for the SEZ, and the Centre sanctioned the scheme without any application of mind. It failed to consider the fact that no Environmental Impact Assessment clearance was obtained from the Environment Ministry though the area pertained to forest land, having thousands of mangroves.

The petition said fishermen in the area would have to be shifted rearward of the SEZ and consequently they would not be able to reach villages for selling fish. Allotment of vast stretches of a notified forest area to a big industrial house and destruction of mangroves would disturb the environment and affect the fishermen.

The petition sought a stay on all construction activities and appointment of a committee to assess the extent of damage caused to the ecology.

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