National Green Tribunal directs that no construction till all approvals are obtained by OPG

The National Green Tribunal on 08-2-20012 in a Judgment [Order made available on 14-2-2012 at www.greentribunal.in] directed that no construction activity should take place with respect to the 300 MW (2x150 MW) Thermal Power Plant at Village Bhadreshwar, Taluka Mundra by OPG Power Gujarat till all approvals are obtained by the Project Proponent. Construction had commenced at the site without all the required approvals including the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and CRZ clearance. The ongoing constructions were challenged before the National Green Tribunal by Fisherfolks, Saltpan Worker and local villagers. The work on the project continues despite the fact all required approvals were not in place

The NGT in its judgement cited the environmental clearance letter which clearly stipulates that the project proponent shall not start any construction/ project enabling activities unless and until environmental clearance as well as all requisite prior permission/ clearances are obtained. [Para 13 of the Judgment].

The NGT held ‘that a cumulative reading of all the specific and general conditions…leads to the conclusion that the project cannot commence its activities until prior permission/ clearances are obtained from various authorities under different Acts/ law’.

The NGT further held that ‘it is well settled that in the absence of permission under the Forest (Conservation) Act and CRZ clearance , the EC granted in favour of Respondent No 3 becomes redundant in as much as the said EC is subject to permission and clearance granted under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and the CRZ clearance”

It is pertinent to point out that the Forest Clearance application was rejected by the Government of Gujarat and the MOEF has on 6^th February, 2012 issued a Show Cause to OPG Groups to show cause as to why the CRZ Clearance should not be kept in abeyance.

As a result of the Present Judgment of the NGT, OPG Power Gujarat cannot proceed with its project unless they secure all approvals and responds to the Show Cause issued by the MoEF with respect to the CRZ Clearance. In case OPG proposes any change, they have to apply to the concerned authorities for approval.

Indian Express

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Green-Tribunal-flags-red-for-OPG-s-power-plant/912352/

Business Standard

http://business-standard.com/india/news/green-setback-for-opg-power-plant/464748/

Hindustan Times

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Green-tribunal-stops-Gujarat-power-project/Article1-811498.aspx

Divya bhaskar Gujarti News

http://www.divyabhaskar.co.in/article/KUT-BUJ-opg-power-plant-green-tribunal-stop-order-2863291.html

Kutch Mitra

http://www.kutchmitradaily.com/News.aspx?id=50800

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/power/stop-opgs-power-plant-work-at-mudra-untill-it-gets-environmental-clearance-national-green-tribunal/articleshow/11897865.cms

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/wire-news/stop-opgs-power-plant-work-at-mudra-gujarat-green-tribunal_668318.html

http://www.asianage.com/india/stop-opgs-power-plant-work-mudra-gujarat-green-tribunal-856

http://www.infraline.com/todaynews/National-Green-Tribunal-Directs-Opg-Power-Gujarat-To-Stop-Work-At-Its-300-Mw-Thermal-Power-Plant/1/3/3/02_15_2012.htm

http://www.allvoices.com/news/11516885-green-tribunal-flags-red-for-opgs-power-plan

http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/greenmudra-2-last/963749.html

http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/news/green-setback-opg-power-plant

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/west/stop-opgs-power-plant-work-mudra-gujarat-green-tribunal-387

A Gujarat fishing system struggles for survival

Adam Halliday, Indian Express : Tue Nov 02 2010, 06:11 hrs

Bhadreshwar : Near a small village named Bhadreshwar on the Kutch coast, an area almost the size of Gandhinagar disappears and reappears, twice a day. The Randh Bander — also called Mota Bander by the local fishermen because of its size — is a low-lying stretch of flat land that stretches for more than 20 km from east to west and 4 km from north to south (at its widest point). During high tide, seawater covers this entire area — sometimes as deep as 15 feet at some areas. During low tide, the mud is soft but hardy enough to walk on easily, although in some places one may sink till the ankles. It is here that about 650 fishermen’s families from Bhadreshwar and Luni villages have been practising what is called “pagadiya fishing” — where boats are not used but rather fishing is done on foot — for an estimated four centuries.

But the fishermen fear all this may disappear soon. They have been writing and protesting to local, state and Central authorities, including Union Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh, to stop industries from being set up nearby. One of the reasons is that they fear industrialisation in the vicinity would mean this ecosystem, and the livelihood it offers, will perish.

Pagadiya fishing is a simple affair. Fishermen walk far into the bander during low tide and erect nets upon sticks planted into the mud. As the high tide covers the bander, fish from the Arabian Sea swim onto the algae-rich area and feed there. As the water recedes during low tide and the fish with it, they get caught in these nets. All the fishermen have to do is walk upon the bander and collect them.

On an October afternoon, 42-year-old Osman Jamutar was planting a row of sticks on the mud to form a long and steady arch, busily tying a 400 m net to the sticks. Putting two fingers in between the weave of the nets, he explained the small fish could easily pass through it. “We make sure the small and baby fish escape so that the entire fish population does not die and it allows reproduction,” he said, adding that government agencies like Marine Product Export Development Agency were instrumental in spreading awareness about sustainable fishing.

Jamutar sets up this arching net twice every day, in the morning and afternoon. He goes home to his village and returns when the high tide has come and gone. He normally returns to a crowd of fish, caught in the nets. He wraps these up in the net itself, mounts them onto his bicycle and rides home, where his wife and the women in his family sort the catch and take them to the village market. The wives and female relatives of those pagadiya fishermen who have licenses from the Fisheries Department sell their catch in the towns nearby — Mundra, Adipur, Gandhidam and Anjar.

Pagadiya fishing is practised in villages Surajbari, Cherawadi, Navinad, Jarpara, Shekhadia, Luni, Bhadreshwar, Phirsangar, Wandhi, Lakhpat, Jakhau along the Kutch coast.

What kind of fish do they catch? Jamutar gives a long list: “Gandhia, Chhodi, Crabs, Khokri, Khagi, Khetar, Kunga, Bhufari, Serkhundra...”

As one steps onto the bander during low tide, one comes across crabs peeping from under the wet, sandy surface, tiger prawns burying themselves not far away, even several mangrove saplings.

Ibrahim Sale Manjalia, 61, bends down and runs his fingers over the mud to show a thin, green film over it — algae deposits. “The fish come and eat this,” he explains, and points to a shallow stream that runs from the land towards the ocean. “Those bring food for the fish from the land.”

Ibrahim spent a month in jail last year, as he was arrested with five others when protests against a proposed power plant near the village turned violent. He was one of the leaders of those protests, rallying villagers with songs he had composed.

The streams he shows are the lifeline of this ecosystem. Originating inland, they flow towards the Gulf and deposit minerals onto the mud of the bander, serving as feed for the fish, crabs and prawns that thrive there.

Building industries inland may result in these creeks getting blocked and cutting off this supply.

As we walk towards the Arabian Sea, we come across a V-shaped, 3 km long, 6 ft tall net being put up by three men and three women, hurrying to finish the entire length before sundown. This giant net, which the fishermen call “wall net”, will stand for eight months, unlike the shorter one that is set up and removed daily. When we ask the fishermen how much this “wall net” would catch, one of them answers reluctantly: “Maybe Rs 1,500 worth in one week.”