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Anti-Cogentrix body urges cancellation of project

The Janajagrithi Samithi of Dakshina Kannada in Karnataka, which is spearheading the agitation against the 1000 mw Mangalore power project of the United States-based multinational Cogentrix, has urged the federal ministry of environment and forests to revoke its clearance to the project as the company had failed to complete the environmental impact assessment study.

In a letter to the ministry, samithi Executive President Balakrishna Shetty said such a decision by the ministry would improve its credibility which had been lost.

He alleged that the Mangalore Power Company, a joint venture between Cogentrix and the Hong Kong-based China Light and Power, had failed to keep up its assurance to complete the environmental impact assessment within a year as had been stipulated in the ministry's clearances order on June 11, 1996.

The company had even told the Karnataka high court in March that the impact assessment was under preparation and would be submitted within the stipulated time.

However, the company had informed that state pollution control board that the comprehensive impact assessment would begin only after the site control was gained by it. The MPC was yet to gain access as it had refused to deposit the caution deposit of Rs 250 million with Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada district, according to a samithi press release.

The controversial project, which was yet to get a counter-guarantee clearance from the Centre, had been challenged in the Karnataka high court by Maneka Gandhi on environment grounds and the judgement had been reserved after arguments concluded on June 6.

The samithi said the company had not complied with various other conditions of both the ministry and the state pollution control board, thereby blatantly violating the conditions while giving clearance and no-objection certificate.

While clearing the project the ministry had laid down certain conditions, whose noncompliance would result in the clearance being rendered invalid as per its notification of 1994 and the 1986 Environment Protection Act.

Besides the comprehensive environment impact assignment the other conditions stipulated by the ministry included submission of the impact assessment report for the proposed single point mooring for unloading imported coal within three months after securing a no-objection certificate from the state pollution control board.

It also wanted the company to comply with all the conditions stipulated by the pollution control board in its no-objection certificate issued in July 1995. This included a special study by the National Institute of Oceanography to assess the impact of effluents discharge into the sea.

In his reply to the ministry of January 11 this year, MPC Managing Director Ron Somers had stated that the coalyard would be stacked with supplies for 30 to 68 days, amounting to 320,000 tonnes, and during the monsoon period of four to five months, the storage would be 1.122 million tonnes as coal could not be delivered at the captive jetty due to rough seas. On the study by the National Institute of Oceanography, he had stated that the report was expected to be submitted within four to six months.

From Somers letter, it appeared that none of the significant conditions laid down for the project had been complied even as early as January this year, the samithi said, and added that even after three weeks the ministry had not acknowledged its appeal.

UNI