VIJAYAWADA: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued an interim order staying the proposed Rayalaseema pumping scheme and Pothireddypadu head regulator canals enhancement works, against which the Telangana government has recently complained to Krishna River Management Board (KRMB), following a petition by a resident of Telangana.
The NGT’s zonal bench in Chennai also constituted a committee to study the environmental impact, in wake of the applicant alleging that the proposed project would result in Krishna basin becoming dry, and asked it to submit the report in two months.
The bench admitted the petition filed by Gavinolla Srinivas from Bapanpally village of Narayanpet district of Telangana via videoconference on Wednesday. In the prayer, the petitioner, who made the Union Ministries of Environment and Forest and Jal Shakti, AP and Telangana governments, and KRMB as respondents, sought that AP government be restrained from taking up the ‘illegal’ project.
The petitioner, who stated that he was an ‘aggrieved farmer’, contended that the project could draw 200 TMC of Srisailam water would render useless Telangana projects like Palamuru Rangareddy lift irrigation, Kalwakurthy LIS, drinking water schemes and other canal systems. He prayed for a detailed study on the ‘adverse’ impact on the ecology. The NGT bench constituted a committee to study the environmental impact with members from Union Ministry of Environment and Forest, IIT-Hyderabad, KRMB and central and state pollution control board. The committee was asked to submit the report in two months.