Is the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society more important for environment minister Jairam Ramesh than the endangered Olive Ridley turtles, a species that enjoys the same legal protection as the tiger?
The port is being constructed by Tata Steel and L&T and the surrounding areas of the port comprise of protected areas, including the Bhitarkanika National Park and Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary.
Documents obtained in December by Greenpeace under the Right to Information Act have revealed that Mr Ramesh had agreed that the port was in probable violation of the Forest Conservation Act 1980, but decided to overlook the issue, contradicting the advice of Orissa’s senior-most conservator of forest, who had argued that since the land allocated for the port was “unsurveyed, unclassified and undemarcated” it therefore remained in the list of deemed forests submitted to the SC in 1998.
Mr Ramesh notes, “The port itself is nearing completion. Had construction not commenced, we could have taken a decision unequivocally not to let the project proceed at the site whose ‘forest status’ is disputed,” though the minister goes on to add that “were we to consider this case today, we will have no option but to insist on clearance under the FACA 1980”. The ministry had gone on to state before the SC that the area (Dhamra port) was not a forest land. The Orissa government has accused Mr Ramesh of playing “ecopolitics”.