Andhra Pradesh government issued a controversial GO (MS 329) on Wedneday permitting Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC) to reuse the land, allotted to it set up a thermal plant, for establishing multi-product industrial park. Many see some foul play in giving back the lands to the same company allotted for different purpose , instead of taking back by the government or giving back to the farmers. The GO is going to stoke another controversy in the state as opposition parties are likely to raise the issue as another ‘scam’.
In the meantime, former union government secretary and environment expert EAS Sarma said the GO is prima facie illegal. He says the GO is untenable for five reasons. He urged the state government to withdraw the GO immediately, otherwise he would be constrained to challenge it in the court of law.
Five Reasons why giving back land to NCC is illegal:
1.The land in question is classified in the Revenue records as a wetland. As such, it attracts the prohibitory clauses under the Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules notified by the Union Ministry of Environment & Forests (MOEF). The National Environment Policy (2006) approved by the Union Cabinet and the Wetland Rules notified under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 make it obligatory for the Union and State governments to conserve wetlands such as this one. Therefore, issuance of the GO cited amounts to a breach of such an obligation and a violation of the environment laws and rules.
2.The erstwhile National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA) had disallowed the statutory environment clearance accorded earlier in favor of M/S NCC to set up a thermal power plant on the said land, considering, among other reasons, the fact that the land had been classified as a wetland. There are revision proceedings pending before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in this matter. Issuance of the GO during the pendency of the NGT proceedings is sub judice and inappropriate.
3.At the instance of NGT/ NEAA, MOEF had commissioned a comprehensive study of the wetlands of Srikakulam district including the Sompeta land in question. The study was carried out by Salim Ali Institute of Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) in 2012 and submitted to MOEF, which identified the Sompeta land to be a wetland of significant ecological importance, eligible to be designated as a Ramsar site under the Ramsar International Convention on wetlands. This report is presently under consideration of the NGT. The GO that has now been issued in respect of the Sompeta land makes a mockery of the SACON report.
4.The Sompeta wetland in question sustains thousands of livelihoods of small and marginal farmers, fishing communities and others. There are three government-sponsored lift irrigation schemes that draw water from these wetlsnds, which will become infructuous as a result of diverting the land for industry.
5.Under the Neeru-Meeru scheme, the government instructed the district collectors throughout the State [Memo 24140/Assn I(1)/2003-3 of 22 August 2003] to notify all lands with water bodies and include them in the village Prohibitory Order Books (POBs) so that such lands could be excluded from diversion and damage. The Sompeta land in question ought to have been included in the POB and prohibited from diversion to industry. The latest GO violates this Memo.
