*OKHLA ANTI-INCINERATOR COMMITTEE* * * *Press Release* * * *Jairam Ramesh Orders Technical Review of Proposed Okhla’s Waste to Energy Incinerator*
1st April 2011, New Delhi: Aggrieved residents of Okhla colonies met Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of Environment & Forests to point out serious legal violations concerning the Okhla ‘Waste-to-Energy’ Plant and asked him to take cognizance of imminent public health crisis facing the residents of several colonies of the area. The residents submitted a letter to him. (the letter is attached) It was pointed out that waste to energy incinerators are coming up in manifest violation of the Supreme Court’s order. The order was shared with him. Responding to these grievances, the minister deputed Bharat Bhushan, director, MoEF, to meet the residents again on 2nd April, 2011 to comprehend the situation arising from incinerators which are known to release toxic gases and particles. The residents appreciated the Minister’s statement,: “MoEF should not have given an environment clearance considering that no proper public hearing was held”. With reference to the plant promoter Jindal Ecopolis’ argument that “70 percent of the plant is complete”, it was clarified that the Delhi High Court had warned the promoters that they were building at their own risk. The residents agreed with the Minister when he said, “The environment clearance was originally given to IL&FS. Then they auctioned off the project, and sold it to the bidder who promised the lowest cost of power and that was Jindal Ecopolis, But the law says that when the project promoter changes, even if they just change their name, they must come back to the Ministry to revalidate their clearance…This is a definite violation of the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2006.” The notification says that before a clearance can be transferred, an application must be made to the regulatory authority concerned. Ministry officials say that since the expertise and environmental track record of the project promoter is investigated as part of the appraisal process before a clearance is granted, any change in management must be communicated to the Ministry. The minister noted that they had failed to do so. Amanatullah Khan, a Congress party leader from the Jamia Nagar area, Okhla was present raised the issue of an existing biomedical waste incinerator continue to function in the area issue in spite of a one year court order to have it relocated. Toxic Watch Alliance was also represented at the meeting. *For Details:* Anant Trivedi: Resident, Eshwar Nagar, Mb: 9868502292 Vanya Joshi, Sukhdev Vihar Resident, 41321182 [email protected] Asha Arora: 9711408421, Okhlakaghosla@gmailcom Okhla Anti-Incinerator Committee - E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.facebook.com/ghoslaokhla Blog: toxicswatch.blogspot.com, Gopal Krishna, Mobile: 9818089660, E-mail: [email protected] -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
Letter to Jairam Ramesh.doc
Description: MS-Word document
