March 28, 2024 23:11 (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Actor Govinda returns to politics after 14 years of 'vanvas', joins Eknath Shinde camp | 'To browbeat and bully others is vintage Congress culture': PM posts after 600 lawyers write to CJI | Comments on our electoral, legal processes completely unacceptable: India on US' remarks over Kejriwal arrest | Delhi High Court rejects PIL seeking removal of Arvind Kejriwal as CM | MHA extends AFSPA in 3 districts of Arunachal Pradesh for 6 months

Greenpeace demands cancellation of Mahan forest clearance

India Blooms News Service | | 16 Apr 2014, 10:30 pm
New Delhi, Apr 16 (IBNS): With another multi-crore scam tainting the UPA government, fresh evidence has surfaced on Wednesday exposing how Environment and Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily favoured Essar by gifting it Rs 52,000-crore worth Ratna oil field, off the Mumbai coast1, Greenpeace said.

 

“This new evidence that Mr Moily was already predisposed towards Essar explains why the last minute clearance to meet the Coal Ministry deadline on de-allocations was made by him. Given that both the Ministers preceding Moily have recorded their disapproval of forest clearance for this project, the clearance decision must be revisited, and taken on a genuine objective basis, by an independent, untainted decision-maker. Until that is done, the clearance decision should be considered null and void,” said Vinuta Gopal, Head of Climate and Energy, Greenpeace India.

On Feb 12, Moily granted Stage II clearance to Mahan Coal Limited, a Essar-Hindalco joint venture, to mine in the Mahan Forests in Singrauli district, Madhya Pradesh. Greenpeace had then written to the Prime Minister to sack Moily.

Following Greenpeace’s protests against Essar’s proposed coal mine in Mahan, the company slapped a Rs 500-crore defamation and gag suit in the Bombay High Court against Greenpeace and villagers of Mahan. The company went to the extent of asking the court to ban Greenpeace from demanding the sacking of the environment minister.

Veerappa Moily was given the additional portfolio of the Environment Ministry at the fag end of the Manmohan Singh government, even while he was holding the Petroleum and Natural Gas portfolio. 
 
The Ratna oil field clearance as well as the Mahan forest clearance by the same minister in a short span of two months is a clear example of conflict of interest. Greenpeace has been warning of this ever since his appointment.
 

 

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.