Pune Construction activity at Lavasa, Pune — being developed by Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) — has been at a standstill for the last nine months as the stop work order issued by the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) is yet to be withdrawn.
The immediate trigger is the environment ministry’s latest policy of asking corporates to mandatorily commit five per cent of project investments in environment protection measures, under what it calls corporate environment responsibility (CER).
After a long legal battle, Lavasa Construction Ltd, the project proponents of Lavasa, has agreed to accept the five ‘preconditions’ specified by the MoEF, over which the clearance was stuck. The Board of Lavasa Construction Ltd had met recently and passed a resolution stating they were ready to accept all the riders imposed by the ministry. In the next court hearing, the company will reiterate its stand.
The Lavasa Corporation Limited (LCL) on Tuesday told the Bombay High Court that the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) cannot lay down pre-conditions to continue its status quo maintained against the alleged illegal constructions in Lavasa.
Nine months after the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co Ltd (MSEDCL) first conducted a survey for electrification of seven villages around the Lavasa Lake City, the state government has finally sanctioned Rs3.88 crore to electrify the villages.
An additional four villages have also been included in the electrification list.
Ruling out the regularisation of the the 31-storey Adarsh Society, allegedly built in violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms, Additional Solicitor General D J Khambata told the Bombay High Court on Monday:
Two agriculturalist, Bandya Walekar and Babu Walekar, have moved the Bombay high court alleging that their land rights have been illegally transferred and later taken over by the Lavasa Corporation Limited to build the hill station.
The petitioners have challenged the state government circular appointing Lavasa Corporation as the special planning authority.
Mumbai: Five days after the environment ministry asked the state government to initiate action against Lavasa Corporation for environmental violations on a portion of its hill city project in Pune, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday indicated that the option to
Affidavit filed on behalf of Union of India (MOEF) in the Writ Petition No 811 of 2011 in Lavasa Corporation Ltd vs Union of India & Ors dated 15/06/2011.
