Court upholds govt's order to Lavasa

The Bombay High Court bench comprising Justice B H Marlapalle and Justice U D Salvi also ordered the Union environment ministry’s team to visit Lavasa site for three days and pass the final order on its notice by January 10.

Government Committee

The high court also asked the Maharashtra government if they could form a three-member committee to study issues of transfer of land, displacement and impact on water supply.

The court was hearing a petition filed by the Lavasa Corporation challenging the environment ministry’s order directing stoppage of the construction.

The high court said Lavasa could challenge the final decision of the ministry subsequently if it was aggrieved by the order. The judges made it clear that they would examine displacement issues, rehabilitation plans and impact on water supply to Pune city due to the project, before passing an order on the Lavasa’s plea.

The Union Environment and Forests ministry on November 25 directed Lavasa Corporation to prove within 15 days that it did not violate environmental norms in its lake city development, and ordered stoppage of construction at the site.

The Lavasa corporation is building the lake city project on 20,000 acres of hillock in the Western Ghats near Pune and has invested Rs 4,000 crore in the project so far.

The chief promoters of the Lavasa project are Hindustan Construction Company Ltd (HCC), which holds a 65 per cent stake in Lavasa Corporation.