The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : High Court seeks records of KG Basin gas, oil from Ministry of Environment & Forests

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Tuesday, Jun 02, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

High Court seeks records of KG Basin gas, oil from Ministry of Environment & Forests

Legal Correspondent

HYDERABAD: A Division Bench of the High Court on Monday directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) to produce the applications made by proponents who are seeking to exploit the gas and oil in the KG Basin and records pertaining to the evaluation of these applications with reference to ‘land subsidence’.

These orders were passed by the Bench comprising Chief Justice Anil Ramesh Dave and Justice Ramesh Ranganathan. The Bench was hearing a writ petition filed by the Krishna Godavari Delta Parirakshana Samithi through its secretary, D. Vijay Bangara Raju, of Bhimavaram and Prof. Krishna Rao.

Data presented

The petitioners contended that the companies which seek to exploit gas and oil have to make an application to the MOEF and mention the issue of land subsidence after which the experts committee of the MOEF has to look into it.

They contended that no one was bothered about the danger of land subsidence. The petitioners placed data to show the court that land subsidence had occurred throughout the world and in Surat, Gujarat, too.

They feared that the Krishna and Godavari deltas would be submerged in the sea if preventive measures were not taken now. They wanted the court to direct the Directorate of Hydrocarbons, along with the MOEF, to study and evolve measures to save the deltas from impending danger.

The respondent officers, meanwhile, said that the wells were deep and the soil formation here would not permit land subsidence. The Bench wanted to know whether there was a study on KG basin and whether the issue was examined at the stage of application as mandated by the statute. The Bench gave three weeks to the respondents to produce the material and the final permission granted by the MOEF.

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