NGT accepts review plea, sends notice to Andhra Pradesh government, Centre on green nod to Amaravati

CRDA commissioner Cherukuri Sreedhar has said that 16 engineering graduates from the capital region were picked by the contracting agencies executing works in Amaravati.

Published: 16th May 2018 03:34 AM  |   Last Updated: 16th May 2018 03:34 AM   |  A+A-

By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: In a significant development, the principal bench of the National Green Tribunal, New Delhi, on Tuesday issued notices to the Centre and Andhra Pradesh government following a petition filed by former bureaucrat EAS Sarma, seeking review of the judgment passed by the tribunal in November last year pertaining to capital Amaravati.

The tribunal, in its order dated November 11, 2017, permitted the AP government to go ahead with the construction of the capital while complying with the stipulations laid down by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. It refused to interfere with the environmental clearance for construction activities in the new capital subject to restrictions. This order was passed on petitions filed against the environmental clearance given to the above works on the ground that it would cause damage to environment, especially Kondaveeti Vagu (a rivulet). Following this, Sarma filed a review petition.

In the review petition, he challenged the environmental clearance granted by the AP State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) on October  9, 2015 for construction of greenfield capital city Amaravati in an area of 217.23 square km covering 23 villages in  Thulluru, Tadepalli and Mangalagiri mandals of Guntur district.

The counsel for Sarma told the tribunal that the passing of common judgment in appeals and original application were not legally correct. He sought review of the judgment on the ground that his appeal challenging environmental clearance was not dealt with by the tribunal before passing the order.
An intervention application was filed by one Bolisetty Satyanarayana pointing out that the issue of flood plains was totally ignored by the tribunal while passing the above order. There was a need to hear the findings of the World Bank inspection team on the issue, he noted.

After hearing the case, the principal bench of acting chairperson Justice Jawad Rahim, Justice Raghuvendra S Rathore (judicial member) and Satyawan Singh Garbyal (expert member) issued notices to the respondents - secretary to Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, authorities of SEIAA, APCRDA and the State Pollution Control Board. The matter was posted to May 30 for further hearing.

16 capital grads get job

Vijayawada: CRDA commissioner Cherukuri Sreedhar has said that 16 engineering graduates from the capital region were picked by the contracting agencies executing works in Amaravati. He said that if the contracting agencies inform the CRDA about the skill sets required for a candidate, training would be given to the local youth accordingly. In a review meeting on local employment opportunities in the capital region on Tuesday, the commissioner appealed to the contractors to give preference to the youth in Amaravati while recruiting.

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