‘Green violations by Tata Steel, L&T were overlooked’

NEW DELHI - The environment ministry overlooked green law violations by Tata Steel and Larsen and Toubro (L&T) in their Dharma port project in Orissa, an environmental group said Thursday, quoting from a Right to Information (RTI) reply.

Greenpeace obtained file notings of Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh on the Dharma project, which has been at the centre of controversy for years due to being adjacent to the Bhitarkanika National Park and Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary.

“The file noting by Jairam Ramesh admits that there is a probable legal violation, but argues in favour of condoning it on the grounds that the port itself is nearing completion,” Greenpeace India’s oceans campaign manager Sanjiv Gopal said.

“He (Ramesh) further wrote that had construction not commenced, they could have taken a decision unequivocally not to let the project proceed at the site whose forest status is disputed,” he said.

According to the NGO, the revelation was in sharp contradiction to the ministry’s strictures against Vedanta, Adarsh Society and Lavasa Corporation.

“Why was the Tata-led company let off when there is sufficient evidence of a violation? What factors contributed in the Dharma projects getting a go ahead instead of being penalised,” Gopal asked.

Greenpeace said the fait accompli logic used by the ministry set a dangerous precedent and contradicted the government’s statements on the Adarsh Society project in Mumbai and Vedanta’s Lanjigarh refinery in Orissa — both of which the ministry has threatened to demolish/shut down for violating environmental laws.

Evidence of violation of the Forest Conservation Act in the Dharma port project first surfaced in 2009. The ministry did not take any action and the first phase of the port is now nearing completion. Plans are underway for a massive expansion into more dangerous cargo such as oil and naphtha.

Greenpeace demanded punitive measures against the project and a permanent freeze on all planned industrial activity (including port expansion) within the buffer zone of Bhitarkanika and Gahirmatha.