NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered resuming hearing before the National Green Tribunal on pleas seeking withdrawal of environment clearance granted to the Vizhinjam Port Project, developed by the Adani Group, in Thiruvananthapuram.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice A K Sikri and Justice R Banumathi vacated its stay on the proceedings before the NGT and asked it to hear the cases and dispose them of in six weeks.
The court had in January 2015 stopped the NGT from hearing petitions against the project. Refusing to grant any relief, the Bench said: “We can understand if a poor person objects to coming to Delhi from Chennai. But here, it is Adani, one of the most powerful entrepreneurs in the country.”
The direction came on the appeals filed by Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd (VISL) and the Kerala Government. The project has been challenged by different groups, including local fishermen, who contend that the construction and development will cause irreversible damage to an environmentally-fragile area. The parties had asked for the case to be transferred to Delhi.