Order of the National Green Tribunal regarding EC violation while laying of pipeline in Nakti creek, Gulf of Kutch, Gujarat, 16/01/2020
Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Kandla Juth Machimar Sahkari Mandal Ltd. Vs Union of India & Others dated 16/01/2020 regarding violation of the condition of the Environmental Clearance (EC) pertaining to work of laying of pipeline in Nakti Creek, Gulf of Kutch. According to the applicant, the laying of the pipeline using the Open Trench Method (OT) instead of the Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) is a violation of EC and conditions of the Coastal Regulation Zone Clearance granted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) thereby attracting the provisions of the Environment Protection Act, 1986.
The NGT adjourned the matter till January 30, 2020 to give more time to the applicant to go through the report submitted by the MoEF&CC which stated that "prescription of adopting the HDD method as a condition in the EC was an error as the entire EIA studies had been undertaken based upon proposal of the project proponent to adopt the OT method."