Lavasa check: Medha Patkar advises team on areas to inspect

Lavasa, Jan 6 (ANI): Social activist Medha Patkar met with the inspection panel to discuss serious violations of the Lavasa project and instructed them on which areas needed to be visited.

She also led a protest march into the complex premises with people displaced by the project.

"The Environment Protection Act is very wide. It is very comprehensive. It includes land, forest and water and it is our contention that everything you are seeing is illegal. It is not one Adarsh (Housing) scam, it is a mega scam," said Patkar.

Patkar claimed that the construction done in the catchments area was killing the reservoir.

"The 141 hectares of land which was allotted, the construction was done by Raj group Construction Company - a company of the family of Ram Raj Nimbalkar. It is also a thing to mark. It had long adverse impact on the water reservoir and second thing is that sanitation may ruin the water reservoir," Patkar said.

A team of environment officials and experts are on a three-day visit, as ordered by the Bombay High court, to survey the site proposed for a 25,000-acre infrastructure project, and its impact on the environment.

The Ministry had issued a show-cause notice, alleging clearances were not given under the 1994 and amended 2004 notifications on November 25, and the township project was put on hold.

The Ministry will take a decision by January 10 after an assessment of the site, and present the report to the court before a final order is given to the show-cause notice.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests had stayed construction work at the site alleging that Lavasa Corporation had violated the ministry notifications issued in 2004.

The court had earlier directed Lavasa to approach the ministry by December 9 regarding the stay imposed on the work and directed the ministry to pass an order on it by December 16.

However, the Ministry refused to vacate the stay and reply to the show cause notice. (ANI)