HC to refer panel report on Rushikonda to MoEF
VIJAYAWADA: Making its intention of sending a report on the excavation beyond the permissible level at Rushikonda in Visakhapatnam district to the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) clear to assess the severity of the violations, the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday asked why the State government should have any objections on it.
Hearing supplementary petitions on the Rushikonda issue, seeking a stay order to prevent further constructions, a division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice AV Sesha Sai and Justice R Raghunandan Rao, said the Supreme Court orders specify that constructions should be in accordance with the MoEF permissions.
Earlier, the High Court had directed the MoEF to conduct a survey of excavations and constructions at Rushikonda and it even constituted a committee to inspect the site.
The committee in its report submitted to the court stated that the constructions were in violation of the permissions given.
Hence, the court has decided to refer the report to the MoEF, which was objected by government pleader Suman. He asked for a final verdict in the case.
However, the court directed the government to give its opinion on referring the committee report to the MoEF and adjourned the case hearing to two weeks.