Jairam strikes: After Lavasa, it is Mundra port

The Environment and Forest Ministry on Thursday put Gautam Adani- promoted Mundra Port in Kutch district of Gujarat on a 15- day show- cause notice, threatening to cancel their environment and coastal clearances and demolish all constructions for gross violations.

Its earlier notice to the Lavasa hill city and the latest one to the Mundra project are seen as a political attack by Jairam Ramesh on Nationalist Congress Party chief and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. Both notices impact Pawar’s close friends — Ajit Gulabchand in the case of Lavasa and Gautam Adani in the case of Mundra Port.

The notice has been issued on a complaint lodged by Machimar Adhikar Sangharsh Sangathan’s general secretary Bharat Patel. The Adani- promoted company was served the notice after a site report by the ministry’s additional director Dr A Senthil Vel confirmed violation of various permissions and clearances granted for the project.

The notice to the private Mudra Port seeks to cancel the clearance given for the West Port and North Port, as also to the township project cleared by the Gujarat authorities in February. It also seeks to dismantle a pipeline carrying dredged material for reclamation and opening channels for inflow of tidal waters, dismantling of all reclamations undertaken in the mangrove area and opening of all channels and creek systems reclaimed to allow natural flow of sea water.

It also holds development of an airport close to the shore, without due environment clearance under the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, as unauthorised, notwithstanding the company having a clearance letter from Civil Aviation Department dated October 30, 2008. Likewise, the notice says the “ Samundra township” and “ Sterling Hospital” are being built without obtaining clearances under the CAZ notification.

The notice also asks the company to undertake mangrove afforestation in additional 1000 hectares in consultation with the Gujarat Ecological Commission. It warns that appropriate orders will be passed without any further notice if no response is received within 15 days. The company can seek a personal hearing, it added.

Simultaneously, the Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority has been asked to inquire and submit within four weeks a report on construction of the Samudra township and the Sterling hospital in the coastal regulation zone area without clearance.

The authority has been also asked to prepare within four weeks a revised coastal regulation zone area of the site and a layout plan for the permissible activities. In the case of the power plant proposed to be set up in Bhadreshwar village of Mundra taluka in Kutch district, the notice says why its environment clearances be not cancelled and the company asked to maintain status quo.

The notice to the Mundra Port says the ministry’s official noted during the site visit that large- scale reclamation using dredging material is being carried out on the mangrove area behind the two port sites. Also there is large- scale destruction of mangrove area at several places and the creek systems and natural flow of seawater is being obstructed.