Cogentrix Gets Sc Go Ahead

The Supreme Court yesterday cleared the way for the construction of the 1,000 mw Cogentrix thermal plant in Karnataka by dismissing the appeal of the environmental group, Janajagrithi Samihi, against the Karntaka High Court judgment.

The Karnataka High Court had dismissed the petition of the environmental group on August 29, 1997. The group had then appealed to the apex court.

The bench declined to admit the appeal for further examination . The project, which is a joint venture between US-based Cogentrix Inc and Hong Kongs China Light and Power Company, is expected to be commissioned in 2001. It was delayed because of the litigation moved by environmentalists in the past two years.

 

According to them, the project in Mangalore is situated in an ecologically sensitive area. The Natio nal Environment Engineering Institute, Nagpur, at the instance of the Supreme Court had conducted a study of the impact of the proposed project on the environment. The report has cautioned the government on certain aspects, argued environment lawyer Indira Jaising.

The counsel further submitted that there was no public hearing on the project, which is mandatory in such cases. Representations made to the Karnataka authorities were not considered. The environment impact assessment, which was compulsory, was also not done.

She also contended that the High Court had cleared the project, but had asked the ministry of environment to consider whether the project should be reviewed further in view of the NEERI report. This was also not done, she added.