Rejoinder by the Conservation Action Trust & Others to the reply of the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and TSGENCO. The matter related to the Environmental Clearance dated June 29, 2017 granted by the MoEF&CC to M/s Telangana State Power Generation Corporation (project proponent) for the development of a 5x800 MW Super Critical coal based Yadadri Thermal Power Station at Veerlapalem village, Dameracheral mandal, Nalgonda district, Telangana.

The reply filed by the MoEF&CC and TSGENCO has said that the :

• NGT has advised MoEF to revise siting guidelines in line with the current scenarios since the existing guidelines were promulgated in 1987
• Cumulative impact assessment has been done
• The project has got forest clearance.
• There would be no impact on the tiger reserve
• Minimum flow from upstream reservoir would ensure sustenance of downstream ecology of the river Krishna
• The analysis of mercury in coal has been done
• The NGT judgement in Krishi Vigyan Snsathamn nowhere stated that the project proponent needs to undertake detailed studies on radioactivity before environmental clearance is given.

Conservation Action Trust said that the contentions given by the MoEF&CC and TSGENCO was false and misleading. Six tributaries of the Tungapahadu stream would be destroyed, which would affect the flow and ecology of the stream. The power company failed to evaluate the levels and impacts of radiation in the source coal for the proposed thermal power plant and the resultant coal ash. Radiation is a known environmental and human health danger associated with coal, and the failure to evaluate these risks for the project constitute a serious deficiency in the EIA, according to the report dated February 8, 2021.