In an open order he laid down grounds similar to the ones he had for the Chhattisgarh blocks that would justify the projects to sail through. Three coal blocks - Meenakshi-A, Meenakshi-B and Meenakshi Dipside - are allocated to the 4000 MW Ultra Mega Power Plant, while Manoharpur and Manoharpur Dipside are allocated to 1320 MW power plant of Orissa Power Generation Corporation and Dulanga is allocated to NTPC's 1600 MW power plant.
He has ordered the statutory Forest Advisory Committee to take it off the 'no-go' list and consider the proposals afresh. But in clear indication that he is inclined to approving the forest clearance, he has given several arguments in favour of the project developers. He noted that NTPC and OPGC as well as the UMPPP developers had substantially reduced the area their projects would impact. He noted that very dense forests would not be impacted by the projects and the number of trees to be felled had been substantially reduced or would be reduced. A total of 732 hectares of 'medium dense' forests would be destroyed for the project. The total forestland involved is 1,209 hectares.
As in the Chhattisgarh case, he also justified giving the go-ahead claiming it would help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Read the full report here.
Source: Times News Network, New Delhi.
