Baalu gave green signal to Adarsh, says Prabhu

The Congress had accused the then Union Environment and Forest Minister Suresh Prabhu of giving clearance for the building. However, it has turned out that it was not Prabhu, but Baalu, who, as the minister for environment and forests, gave the green signal for the project in 2003.

The Congress tried to put the blame on the Shiv Sena, as the proposal had first come to the state government when Narayan Rane, who was then with the Sena, was the chief minister in 1999. The party also accused Prabhu of giving the green clearance. Incidentally, Prabhu is a member of the Society and has been allotted a flat in the building.

On Tuesday, Prabhu broke his silence and said he was not the environment minister in 2003 when Adarsh Society was given the clearance. He pointed out that during the period, Baalu was the environment minister in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance regime.

“I was not the environment minister in 2003 when Adarsh Society was given clearance,” he said in a television interview from Singapore. “DMK’s T R Baalu was the environment minister in 2003. I got a flat in Adarsh in 2004 through a bank loan and by following due process,” Prabhu said.  He added that he would have never taken the flat had he known that it was meant for Kargil War heroes and their dependents.
 He said when he applied for a flat in Adarsh Society, all permissions were in order and that he did not know that Coastal Zone Regulation rules had been violated.