The National Green Tribunal on Tuesday delivered its verdict on Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project 3rd TMC water lift and stated that though the environmental permit was given, it was ex post facto in violation of legal requirement.
“We are unable to accept the stand of the project proponent that primarily the project is for water supply and water management and that irrigation is subsidiary or incidental part of the project so as to hold that no EC was required prior to execution of the project from 2008 to 2017,” a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Judge Adarsh Kumar Goel said.
The Ministry of Environments and Forests has also been directed to set up a seven-member expert committee to suggest relief and rehabilitation measures apart from assessing the extent of damage caused and restoration needed.
The development comes in the wake of Mohammad Hayath Udin, a lawyer from Telangana having filed a plea alleging that the project was being built without having obtained environmental and other statutory clearances.
Earlier, a plea had been filed by Sanjay Upadhyay and Salik Shafique, seeking a ban on felling of trees, blasting and tunnelling activities in forest areas that violate the Forest Conservation Act.