Hyderabad: The dispute with regard to environmental clearance for the Palamuru-Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation Scheme that is before the National Green Tribunal (South Zone), Chennai, took a new twist on Friday.
The petitioner who had moved the application challenging the action of the government in going ahead with the first phase of the project — that passes through Amrabad-Srisailam-Nagarjunasagar Tiger Reserve — without forest or environmental clearances and has cleared about 279 hectares of forest land, claimed that the tribunal had granted stay on all irrigation activities and also the tender process for irrigation works of the PRLIS.
The TS government, however, claims that there is no stay on the ongoing work and some vested interests were spreading misinformation.
S.K. Joshi, special chief secretary, irrigation department, said that there was no stay. Linga Raju, chief engineer of the project, said an affidavit has been filed before the tribunal informing it that the project will provide drinking water in the first phase, and only the second phase will be for irrigation, for which clearance will be obtained from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
He said that the NGT has considered their arguments and posted the matter for hearing on March 15 and there was absolutely no hurdle to the ongoing work for supply of drinking water and also the tender process.
He said Mohan Parsharan, senior counsel of the Supreme Court, and J. Ramachandra Rao, additional advocate general, had appeared before the NGT at Chennai to argue the case.
However, Sanjay Upadhya, Siddhartha and B. Rachana Reddy, counsels for B. Harshvardhan Reddy, the petitioner, claimed that a two-member bench of the tribunal, comprising Justice Nambiar and P.S. Rao, has stayed the tender process for irrigation works and also works like digging of canals and reservoirs till the government obtained clearances from the ministries concerned.
They said that they have no objection to the work for drinking water supply. They said that the government officials were lying and that there was a stay and they would produce the order copy after Monday.
