CHENNAI: The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday reserved orders on an application challenging the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance issued by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for four new units of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP).
The Centre granted CRZ clearance for units 3-6 in 2012, which was challenged by G Sundar Rajan of ‘Poovulagin Nanbargal’ on the ground that a non-qualified entity did the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA).
The petitioner’s counsel M Radhakrishnan argued that Engineers India Ltd was not an authorised firm to prepare consultancy reports for nuclear power plants. “Since the company which did the EIA was not accredited a mandatory requirement, the clearance should be quashed or a fresh review through a competent authority should be conducted,” he said.
Counsel for Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCL) said the Supreme Court took an overall view that clearance granted to units 1 and 2 was enough for the new units also.
The NGT bench, comprising Justice P Jyothimani and expert Member PS Rao, reserved orders.