A government inspection team says OPG Power, already facing environmental objections to its 300 Mw thermal power plant in Gujarat, is carrying on construction work at the project site without requisite approvals. A joint site (Mundra in Kutch district) inspection last week by the state environment impact assessment authority, the regional office of the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), the state expert appraisal committee and the Gujarat pollution control board detailed the breaches. The required approvals include those under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance. The committee said work on boilers and turbines was in progress, and ground water was being pumped for construction without requisite approvals. This inspection was on the orders of the National Green Tribunal (NGT). In a February order, NGT had directed the company to not carry out any construction which would entail non-compliance of the environment clearance conditions stipulated.The construction was challenged before the Tribunal by fisherfolk, salt pan workers and local villagers. MoEF had earlier this year issued a showcause notice to OPG Power on the CRZ breach charges in the construction of the plant in the ecologically sensitive Bhadreshwar coast. It asked why the clearance issued to it in September 2011 under the CRZ notification should not be kept in abeyance after cases of violations by the company had surfaced.