Golden corridor dirtiest place

Held at the Premanand Sahitya Sabha Hall, Dandia Bazaar, the people8217;s court 8212; organised by, among others, the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, the Vadodara Kamdar Union, the Vyavasaik Swastha Suraksha Mandal and the Vadodara Gramya Pradushan Nirvan Samiti 8212; heard witnesses from the surveying fora as well as a couple of accused industries. The court will compile a report of its observations within a week for circulation among the circles concerned.

The strongest condemnation for the polluting standards of the Golden Corridor came from internationally known human rights activist Girish Patel, who described Gujarat as 8220;the most developed State of the most backward people8221;.

He added, 8220;No one in the bureaucracy or among the political leaders seem to understand the essence of the word development8217;. There is neither an ideology, nor a political will to develop the people8221;.

Expressing grave concern over the deteriorating environment in State, Justice Suresh said it was shocking to see carcasses and people co-existing in the same environment.

8220;Since such facts cannot come to the courts by themselves, we went to see them for ourselves. And we are here to hear you. Having seen and heard, we will publish the reports. quot;These areas of Gujarat also demonstrate the violation of other human rights, including the basic right to live8221;, he said.

The other judges, including environment engineer Suhas Paranjpye, geologist Dr K C Sahu, community health expert Dr Amar Jesani, agriculture expert Vinay Mahajan and lawyer Mahrukh Adenwala among others, shared their observations with the gathering and appealed to the people to launch a movement against environmental.

They also appealed to government agencies to ensure a complete ban on the setting up of new industries besides taking immediate steps to improve the already-damaged environment.

Gujarat Industrial Power Corporation Limited managing director J N Singh, Common Effluent Treatment Plant chief R N Trivedi and ECP executive engineer Arvind Bhatt also attended the hearing.

The session heard six petitions alleging grave damage to the soil, water and air in Vadodara and surrounding areas. Michael Masgaonkar, Anand Masgaonkar, Swati Desai, Rohit Prajapati, Jagdish and Ram Kailash Saroj spoke on the behalf of the petitioners.