R-Infra project hits green hurdles

Reliance Infrastructure’s (R-Infra) 4,000-MW power project at Shahpur in Raigad district is facing legal hurdles on environmental ground after the Appellate Tribunal For Environment (ATE) sought additional information from Ministry of environment and Forest (MOEF), sources said.

The R-Infra project was initially delayed due to allotment of overlapping land by the state government's two different agencies to the company and also to Tata Power Company (TPC).

R-Infra plans to set up two plants at Shahpur. One of the plants will have a 2800 MW capacity and will gas as fuel and the a second plant of 1200 MW capacity will coal.

Recently, on the hearing of a petition filed by the project affected villages, the tribunal asked the ministry of forest to submit its reply to the arguments against the project.

The action committee of the villagers are seeking cancellation of the permission because the land was within the purview of Green Zone II, where no industrial activity is allowed. The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), which recommended granting of environmental clearance to R-Infra project, did not forward the objections of the villagers.

Refuting claims made by villagers a senior official from R-Infra said, "the state government has already initiated the process to change the status of Green Zone II. Hence, the charge of falsifying the status of land use isn't correct.''

Besides legal challenge to the project on environmental grounds, RInfra is also facing legal hurdle in the Bombay high court where action committee has challenged notification for land acquisition.