Nirma whitewashes 8216;stop work8217; taint

A fuming Nirma management has reacted against the 'stop work' notice sent to it by the Environment Ministry.

Terming it as 8220;illegal8221; the direction by the Ministry of Environment and Forest MoEF to halt work on its cement plant at Bhavnagar district in Gujarat,Nirma Ltd has said the orders had no binding on the company.

The Ministry had on March 12 ordered 8220;permanent suspension of work8221; at the 1.91 million tonne per annum capacity cement plant,along with its captive power and coke oven plant near Padhiarka village in Mahuva taluka of Bhavnagar district.

It had also directed the company to respond to a notice as to 8220;why the environmental clearance accorded to the project should not be revoked and stoppage of the work not be made permanent8221;.

On the same day,the company wrote a letter to the Environment Ministry stating the direction under Section 5 of the Environment Protection Act 1986,to stop implementation including construction work of the project,was 8220;completely without jurisdiction or authority of law including in violation of the principle of natural justice8221;.

8220;And at the same time it cannot bind us at this stage,8221; the letter signed by Vice President Nirma Ltd V N Desai said.

Also terming the direction by Ministry as 8216;unjust8217;,the company said it was in the process of filing a detailed reply and preparing for a personal hearing.

Nirma Ltd,in its letter has requested the Ministry to withdraw its directions,failing which it would be constrained to approach the Supreme Court in an 8216;appropriate manner8217;.

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In the reply,the company also drew attention of the Ministry to an affidavit filed by the Government of India,through it,in the Gujarat High Court which had given go ahead for the project in September last year.

8220;The judgement of Gujarat High Court and the stand of the government of India shows that the environmental clearance was validly granted to us,8221; the Company said.

The company further claimed that the direction was an attempt to 8216;overreach8217; order of Apex Court where the matter was pending following challenge by the farmers of Mahuva taluka against the Gujarat High Court order allowing Nirma to go ahead with construction of cement plant.

Farmers from over 12 villages of Mahuva are agitating against the cement plant since last couple of years alleging that the plant was being built on a natural water body and would destroy their agriculture and animal husbandry,besides causing irreparable damage to the environment.

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BJP MLA from Mahuva Kanu Kalsaria has been leading the agitation against the cement plant.

Recently the Bharitya Kisan Sangh also lent its support to the agitation.

The farmers had filed a public interest litigation PIL in the Gujarat High Court last year opposing Nirma Ltd8217;s cement plant in Mahuva which was rejected.

Following this,the farmers have now approached the Supreme Court challenging the HC order.