Vijayawada: In a major jolt to the AP government, the National Green Tribunal on Saturday directed it not take up any activity related construction of the new capital Amaravati until the necessary environmental clearances are acquired.
The Tribunal’s order came in response to a Public Interest Litigation filed by one P. Srimannarayana of the city. The tribunal had earlier sought responses from the AP government, and the APCRDA commissioner had filed a counter.
After verifying the submissions, the tribunal ordered the government not to take up any work, including levelling of the grounds, said Mr Srimannarayana. He said that the tribunal asked the government if the land was demarcated according to category and whether environmental clearances were acquired.
The state government’s counsel sought time till November 5 to demarcate the land to be used for construction of the capital city, and acquire environmental clearances.
When contacted, the state government’s standing counsel refused to comment. Meanwhile, AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said that efforts were on to obtain all necessary clearances.
“The Tribunal only asked us to acquire permissions before starting work and we will get them soon. I am yet to go through the tribunal’s order,” Mr Naidu told the media here.
