JOIN USEnvironment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday said his ministry will review the projects specifically mentioned by Jayanthi Natarajan in an explosive letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Jayanthi was environment minister for about two years in the UPA-II regime and her latest revelations caused a flutter in political and green circles.
“I will review the files pertaining to the cases specifically referred by her and see what actually happened. The revelations merit serious consideration and we will do that,” Javadekar said in Pune. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also sought a review of several infrastructure projects mentioned by Natarajan.
“I hope the Environment ministry will go into each of these permissions granted and not granted and make sure that these are expeditiously dealt with only as per law and no other consideration. The revelations made by Natarajan in her letter are a matter of great concern and is a serious issue,” Jaitley said here.
The projects mentioned by her include the Vedanta group's Rs 8,400 crore bauxite mining project in Niyamgiri hills in Odisha. The eco-clearances for these projects were first cancelled in 2010 when Jairam Ramesh was the environment minister.
Natarajan passed the final order when the Gram Sabhas rejected the project.
“I took great care to ensure that the interests of the tribals were protected and rejected environmental clearance to Vedanta despite tremendous pressure from my colleagues in the Cabinet, and huge criticism from industry for what was described as “stalling” a Rs 30,000 crore investment from Vedanta,” she said in her November 5, 2014 letter to Sonia Gandhi.
She also referred to opposition to Adani projects due to alleged intervention from Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. “The complaints of local fisherfolk and NGOs of environmental violations in the Adani case were forwarded to me by Rahul Gandhi’s office, and I was told to liaise with Dipak Babaria (Congress leader from Gujarat). Occasionally, I apprised Rahul Gandhi of steps I had taken, and he responded positively,” she wrote.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi too expressed concern in relation to at least three projects—GVK power project with reference to HP’s Dhari Devi temple (shifting the temple to favour the company), Maharastra’s Lavasa project (privately developed hill station), and Gujarat’s Nirma cement plant.
Natarajan alleged Prime Minister's Principal Secretary Pulok Chatterji, known as a Gandhi family loyalist, was in touch with her and officials in guiding the decisions taken.
DH News Service