Social activists call for independent probe

Instead of functioning as an impartial custodian of the local environment, as required in Article 48A of the Constitution and the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, the ministry has constituted a team, heavily loaded with the State government's representatives, to inspect the site

Visakhapatnam: The massive construction activity at Rushikonda hills overlooking the blue waters of Bay of Bengal and secrecy maintained by the authorities by not allowing Opposition and environmental activists have turned into an issue of a prolonged legal battle.

After the Supreme Court vacated the stay issued by National Green Tribunal on the excavation being carried out in the area classified as Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) restricted location on a petition filed by MP K Raghuramakrishna Raju, now on the basis of another order, a Central team is being set up to probe into the allegation of violations.

The AP Tourism Development Corporation has undertaken work in the area for construction of ultra modern resorts at an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore (excluding site cost) by demolishing the old resorts built in 2006. There is speculation that the resorts will either be used as the Chief Minister's Camp Office or leased out to a five star hotel. Visakhapatnam, as per Minister for Industries and Commerce, will be operational as the executive capital from the New Year.

Several efforts were made to visit the construction site by TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu, CPI leader K Narayana, Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan and BJP national spokesman and Rajya Sabha member GVL Narasimha Rao. Every time the police thwarted the attempts on the pretext of "security grounds."

Meanwhile, social activist and former IAS officer E A S Sarma, in a letter to Leena Nandan, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change said he felt distressed and anguished that instead of functioning as an impartial custodian of the local environment, as required in Article 48A of the Constitution and the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, her ministry has constituted a team, heavily loaded with the State Government's representatives, to inspect the site.

This has been done knowing well that it is the State Government that had not only damaged the hill against all norms of environmental conservation and in violation of the urban building norms but also engaged expensive counsel at the cost of the public to defend such illegalities and even went to the extent of trying to mislead the court, he said.

"This raises questions about your ministry's bias in favour of the project proponent, at the cost of the environment. I would demand that MEFCC drops the State Government's representatives from the inspection team and instead includes experts from independent environment conservation bodies outside MEFCC's and State's control and also includes representatives of the civil society to make sure that your ministry's inspection report remains insulated from extraneous influences," he stated. Sarma opined otherwise, he is afraid that the exercise of conducting an inspection of the Rushikonda site, as suggested by him in the letter dated 5-11-2022, will lose its credibility from the point of view of the public here and hoped that the ministry will stop acting in tandem with the State Government and the project proponent and start acting as a public trustee in pursuance of the letter and the spirit of Article 48A.