Vijayawada: The AP government which is gearing up for a grand ceremony to mark the foundation stone laying of its capital Amaravati on October 22 has to pass the test of the National Green Tribunal on Saturday.
An interim stay against any construction in capital region is on according to the petitioners Mr P Srimannarayana who challenged the state government at Supreme Court long ago. Later the case was handed over to NGT, which is ultimate authority to decide over environmental concerns.
The judgment on PIL(171/2015) objecting state capital in fertile lands and flood prone region would be delivered on Oct. 10, Saturday. It was actually scheduled to Sept. 18 after receiving a counter affidavit from Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development commissioner on behalf of APCRDA commissioner.
Mr Srimannarayana and his counsels were arguing for stoppage of construction. He said that the ministry of environment told the tribunal that it was approached for any permission and had no role in the usage of particular area for capital.
“When stay is on the state government needs to stop all activity in the capital region including the stone laying ceremony,” Mr Srimannarayana said.
Counsel for the petitioner K. Sravan Kumar said that in similar cases, the Tribunal Benches in Karnataka, Maharashtra and other states imposed hefty fines of nearly Rs 1 crore for violating environmental standards.
