Muck dumping at Polavaram dam: NGT directs Telangana SPCB to submit status report

It had constituted a committee comprising representatives of the Central Pollution Control Board, additional principal chief conservator of forests, the State Pollution Control Board and the district magistrate to give a report on the factual aspects. The NGT's order came on a plea filed by an Andhra Pradesh native, Pentapati Pulla Rao, alleging that illegal dumping of muck was taking place during construction of Indira Sagar Polavaram Multipurpose Project which was damaging the environment.

The National Green Tribunal has directed the Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) to submit status report on a plea alleging that muck was being dumped illegally at the Polavaram dam in Andhra Pradesh. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the pollution control board to submit report by January 11 next year.

The NGT had earlier ordered a four-member committee to conduct an inspection near the Polavaram dam and submit a report. It had constituted a committee comprising representatives of the Central Pollution Control Board, additional principal chief conservator of forests, the State Pollution Control Board and the district magistrate to give a report on the factual aspects.

The NGT's order came on a plea filed by an Andhra Pradesh native, Pentapati Pulla Rao, alleging that illegal dumping of muck was taking place during construction of Indira Sagar Polavaram Multipurpose Project which was damaging the environment. Pulla Rao, in his plea through advocate Sravan Kumar, alleged environment violations at the site and claimed that a huge quantity of waste material was being dumped in agricultural lands near Polavaram project.

Polavaram, which the Andhra Pradesh government claims is the "lifeline of the state", was declared as a national project under the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. "The central government shall execute the project and obtain all requisite clearances, including forest, environmental and rehabilitation and resettlement. The Union should take under its control the regulation and development of Polavaram," the Act says.

Accordingly, the Centre constituted the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) for the purpose..

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