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| Adani Group declines comment on coal mining controversy |
| Press Trust of India / Mumbai Aug 20, 2009, 13:44 IST |
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Adani Group today declined to comment on the controversy over its coal mines near a tiger reserve in Chandrapur saying the matter was sub-judice.
An environmental group has moved the Bombay High Court through a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against coal mining by Adani in Chandrapur district closely located to buffer zone of the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve.
Adani has been alloted coal blocks there for its Tiroda (Bhandara) power plant.
"The public hearings have been completed. There have been some public interest litigation, which have come up in the court and since the matter is subjudice, I dont think we would like to comment on this matter at this point of time," Adani Group director Ameet Desai told reporters here.
"Only a small portion, about one square km (of the coal block) overlaps with the buffer zone. The matter is being looked at by the government authorities...The Ministry of Environment and Forests had cleared the scope of the study which we have submitted," Desai said.
Seven MPs, including Vilas Muttemwar, have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh against mining in the area, one of the few remaining tiger havens in the country.
A division bench of the Bombay High Court in Nagpur had issued a notice to Adani Group on April 21 for mining coal in 1,750 hectares of land at Lohara village in the district.
The bench comprising Justices Dilip Sinha and Ashok Bhangale have directed the authorities to submit actual position.
Tiger population was already dwindling and the mining project would further restrict free movement of wild animals in the tiger corridor across Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, the petition alleged.
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