Government clears first phase of Maheshwar project
By IANSFriday, May 7, 2010
BHOPAL - The central government Friday gave clearance for the first phase of Madhya Pradesh’s Maheshwar hydro electric project that is coming up on the Narmada river, an official said.
The approval was granted following a meeting Wednesday between Principal Secretary to the prime minister T.K.A. Nayar and Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary Avani Vaish, in which it was decided that the ban on construction work would be lifted so that the pending work of construction of gates at the project site could be completed.
Another meeting is scheduled next week to seek permission for commencing other pending work at the project site, an official release said.
Vaish assured the officers attending the meeting that no area would be submerged until the process of rehabilitation of the oustees is fully completed.
The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) had earlier put a ban on the construction work at the project site, citing non-completion of the rehabilitation work.
As a result, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in his meeting Wednesday with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi urged him to get the project cleared.
Chouhan, according to the official, informed the prime minister that due to non-clearance by the MoEF, generation of 400 MW power in the state is being delayed.
The project was planned to generate 7.2 lakh units per day since November 2010, which will not be possible. The work of providing 36 crore litres of water daily to Dewas and Indore will also be affected. So far, Rs.3,000 crore have been spent on this project, the official informed.
