Sue Patkar for Lavasa work stoppage: NCCL chief

GANDHINAGAR - The Lavasa Corporation should file a criminal case against Medha Patkar and others for bringing disrepute and financial losses to their project, a leading civil liberties activist said Saturday.

The loss incurred to the project because of the stoppage of work must also be recovered from Patkar and her allies, National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL) president V.K. Saxena said in a statement.

He referred to the clearance given to the Lavasa project by Naresh Dayal, chairman of an 11-member team of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, and demanded that legal action against Patkar and others is advisable.

Saxena said that the team had made on-the-spot assessment and declared Lavasa project had not harmed the environment and that all environmental parameters have been met by the authorities.

The project was fiercely opposed by Patkar on the grounds of environmental degradation and the Lavasa chairman is on record saying that the corporation is losing Rs. 2 crore per day since Nov 25 when the work was halted, claimed Saxena.