Gujarat High court halts Adani’s MPSEZ work

A bench of the Gujarat High Court has ordered the Adani Group to halt development within 300 meter of the coastal area of Mundra Port & Special Economic Zone (MPSEZ) in Kutch. The order follows the matter pertaining to destruction of mangroves, which in the long run can prove fatal for the environment of the region. All construction and development work in the  area has been stopped till further order.

The bench of justice Jayant Patel and justice RM Chhaya, on Thursday, took serious view of the matter after referring to the report of a committee formed by it on September 19, 2011.

The bench had formed the committee comprising local heads of police and revenue department of Kutch apart from environmental, coastal, port and forest department experts. The committee submitted its report before the high court on Thursday in which it opined that destruction of mangroves is likely to have happened on ‘site number 5’ of the coastal region.

The committee had inspected the site which is on the south of the light house and west of the Western Railway in Mundra where the Adani group was allocated land for development of various projects, including MPSEZ and power plant.

The committee in its report said that about 40 to 50 of stunted mangroves may have been cleared from the area on the northern side, despite a court order on July 12, 2011 that prevented the mangroves from being uprooted.

However, the committee further said that the exact time when the mangroves were cleared could not be ascertained since it requires detailed scientific study by expert institutes of national repute.  The committee submitted its report after inspecting seven sites at the coastal area.

Siraj Gori, counsel for Kheti Vikas Trust, the NGO which challenged industrialisation of the region on grounds of environment protection said that the company violated forestation norms and cut mangroves even after a court prevented it from doing so. When contacted, officials of Adani group refused to comment on the issue. Following the hearing, the court observed that prima facie there seems to be a breach of the court’s order at site no.5. "Till further order no construction will be done in 300 meter area from the sea shore," said the court. The court further warned of strict action if its order was not complied with. "If need be the district superintendent of police can deploy additional force to ensure compliance of the order," said the court. The court was hearing an application seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against the group as it had violated its order on July 12 this year.

The order had prevented the industrial giant from cutting any mangrove or other forest in the region. The order was passed by a bench headed by the then chief justice SJ Mukhopadhya. That bench had also directed the Centre to appoint a committee to inspect for any violation of environmental, seismic and forest rules.