AP government fastens process to acquire environmental clearance
The CRDA claims that it is about to get clearances from the Expert Appraisal Committee
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-10-12 07:55 GMT
Vijayawada: With the National Green Tribunal asking the state government to start capital works only after acquiring the necessary permissions, the APCRDA authorities are hastening the process to get environmental clearances and other permissions. Chief Minister Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu in a press conference on Saturday said the permissions would be acquired soon, while the CRDA officials claimed that they would be received by Monday or Tuesday.
Reacting sharply to the claims of the government, petitioner (to the National Gre-en Tribunal) Mr P. Srimannarayana alleged that getting permissions suddenly indicated misuse of power as the same government had recently told the tribunal that it had not applied for any permissions and there was still time for that. “It takes a minimum of three months to get environmental clearances from the central ministry and also AP departments. There should be public notices issued through newspapers and public hearings held. But nothing seems to have been done,” he said.
“If they have the permissions they should immediately submit them before the tribunal which sought them. They had asked for time for acquiring the required permissions till November 5,” he added. The CRDA, meanwhile, claims that it is about to get clearances from the state level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) and the state level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), which depends on SEAC for issuing permissions. However, so far no public notices have been issued in the capital region.
"I will expose both the government and the issuing authority of the clearance if it is done on instant basis," Mr Srimannarayana added. Meanwhile, speaking during a 5-K run organised at Tadepally on Sunday, Mr Chandrababu Naidu called those approaching the NGT to stop the capital's development sas "durmargulu".