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| CURRENT AFFAIRS |
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ENVIRONMENT |
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OPG Power Gujarat Ltd flouts green norms despite notices from regulatory authorities
Gujarat State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) sends show cause notice to stop construction activity
Kanchi Kohli
New Delhi
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OPG Power Gujarat Ltd continues to construct structures without requisite environmental approvals from the MoEF
Photo Credit: MASS, Kutch |
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OPG Power Gujarat Ltd seems to be making a habit out of this. There is a violation of legal requirements; the regulatory authority issues a show cause notice seeking explanation of why the company’s existing approvals should not be revoked; and it continues to carry out construction activity unabashedly on the proposed project site. After being asked by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) twice before to explain the reasons for carrying out construction without all the requisite environmental approvals being in place or why certain facts were hidden while seeking approval, it is now the turn of the Gujarat State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) to send a notice to the company.
The Gujarat SEIAA has issued a show cause notice on 29th May 2012 asking M/s OPG why action should not be taken against them in lieu of the construction activity undertaken by them in violation of conditions stipulated as per the environment clearance granted to them. These conditions essentially relate to initiating construction only after requisite approvals are in place.
The company has proposed to set up a 300 MW thermal power plant on the ecologically fragile inter-tidal area of the Bhadreshwar region. Ever since the plan was first revealed, the affected community comprising largely of fisherfolk and salt-pan workers has strongly objected to the plant coming up in their area. They have clear reasons for the same, which include both conserving their livelihoods as well as the ecological well-being of this inter-tidal area. They have taken to the streets, to the offices of the regulatory authorities and courts to counter OPG’s efforts to carry out construction each time with the confidence that the legal formalities will fall in place in their favour.
But this case shows the complete failure of the regulatory system to take action against a company that has repeatedly violated environmental norms. The first time a show cause was issued against the company was on 15 December 2010 following an MoEF field visit. The villagers and local fishing rights union had brought to the attention of the ministry that OPG had initiated construction activity without taking the necessary approval under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification. It took six months for the matter to be “resolved”, and the CRZ approval be granted.
Once that was done, the company once again initiated construction activity and at the same time sought approval under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, seeking diversion of forestland for laying of the pipeline and desalination plant integral to the design and operation of the thermal power plant. At this point, the appeals challenging the grant of environment and CRZ clearances were pending before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in New Delhi.
When the complaints to the MoEF or the SEIAA did not yield any response, the affected people filed yet another application before the NGT highlighting the fact that construction is taking place without forest clearance. It was during the course of a joint hearing of all three applications related to the NGT that the MoEF decided to issue another show cause notice to OPG on 6 February. This time, it was seeking explanation as to why OPG’s clearance should not be revoked since it had not disclosed the existence of forestland while seeking forest clearance from the MoEF.
The NGT ruled collectively in the three matters and asked OPG to comply with the conditions stipulated in the environment clearance of 11 June 2010, which clearly indicates that construction activity should be initiated only after all the approvals were in place. The judgment dated 8 February asked OPG to comply with specific conditions of the environment clearance through its cumulative reading. This meant that till the forest clearance was in place and the issues highlighted in the CRZ-related notice were not resolved, OPG should not carry out any construction.
But OPG did not pay heed to this. The construction activity continued and the complaints to the regulatory authorities by the affected people went unanswered. Neither the MoEF nor the SEIAA took action against this continued violation of law when the regulation empowered them to do so. The affected people were relentless and took the matter once again to the NGT. The NGT, in turn, directed the SEIAA to ascertain the ground situation and submit a report. Meanwhile, the construction on the plant site continued and OPG also pursued its forest clearance application.
In a joint inspection on 10 April, the SEIAA, MoEF and the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) recorded that construction activity is taking place without the requisite approvals. Note, they only submit their report to the NGT and once again don’t take any action against the recorded irregularity. On 10 May, keeping the facts in mind and also on the basis of the inspection report, the NGT asked the SEIAA to seek an explanation from OPG and take action. Meanwhile, OPG had pursued with the forest department concerned and the MoEF’s regional office in Bhopal and procured their forest clearance in April. Ironically, this is after they have assured the NGT in January and February that they would be re-routing the pipeline for their thermal power plant and therefore will not be using the forestland.
Now, we are at a stage when on 29 May, the SEIAA has issued a show cause to the company pursuant to the NGT’s directions. The construction activity is carrying on in full swing, even as the regulatory authority initiates yet another paper trail that does nothing to affect the confidence of the company. Why should it, when the previous two show cause notices have not resulted in its approvals getting cancelled. What is important to note is that the issues raised in the 6 February show cause notice remains unresolved.
The people of the area, along with the Machimar Adhikar Sangharsh Sangathan, are determined not to lose hope and are strong in their resolve. They continue to push the SEIAA and the MoEF with their letters, stand up to the company at the site when they seek a compromise, and are still awaiting verdicts from the NGT, where they have invoked their attention to the core issues of the applications they had filed challenging the environment and CRZ clearances. These are the ones related to the impact of the plant on the fishing and salt-pan activity in the region and also the ecological impacts on the fragile inter-tidal region. In its 8 February judgment, the NGT had not ruled on it as the MoEF had issued a show cause notice on the CRZ application and other assurances of the company related to the change of technology and re-routing of the pipeline.
The failure of regulation and the lack of punitive action against the company despite repeated disregard for law continues to baffle, or maybe not.
Kohli is an environmental activist
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