Taking a tough stand on environmental issues, the Gujarat High Court has directed steelmaker Electrotherm (India) Ltd to close down its manufacturing plant in Kutch district and quashed the environmental clearance granted to it by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest without holding a public hearing as per rules.

Electrotherm's 36,000 tonne per annum (tpa) facility for producing structural steel, alloy steel and stainless steel at Samkhiali in Bhachau taluka of Kutch district is also known for making of Yo-bikes, India's first battery-run two-wheelers.

AHMEDABAD: A day after the Gujarat high court held all constructions at the Adani Port & Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) in Kutch illegal in absence of environment clearance, the same bench on Thursday stayed construction activities in 7,000 hectare area. However, this halt order is conditional and temporary.

A PIL was filed by advocate Hashim Qureshi claiming that the Kutch district collector on July 15, 2005, allotted 7,000 hactare land in a single day by passing 26 orders simultaneously for the purpose of development of SEZ.

In a landmark judgement, the Gujarat High Court on Wednesday stayed all activities in the Adani Group’s Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone (MPSEZ) till they get the environment clearance from the Centre. A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J.B.Pardiwala upheld a petition by people of the villages affected by the 18,000-acre Mundra Port and SEZ in Kutch district and ruled that the all construction and other activities should stop until the clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).

The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday stayed construction and further development activities by all units in the Adani Group-owned Mundra Port Special Economic Zone (now Adani Port Special Economic Zone (APSEZ)) in Mundra taluka of Kutch district, till environmental clearance is granted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).

The directions were issued on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed last year by villagers of Navinal village in Mundra opposing construction, and other developmental activities that changes the landscape, topography or geography, within land and area of APSEZ.

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.

Solar power projects with a total capacity of 600 Mw will soon be commisioned at a ceremony at Gujarat Solar Park at Charanka village in Radhanpur, officials of Gujarat Power Corporation said here on Sunday.

The projects at Solar Park currently has an aggregate capacity of 214 Mw.Twenty one new projects generating 210 Mw of solar power would be commissioned at the Solar park on April 19 by Chief Minister Narendra Modi, while other projects have been developed at Anand, Banaskantha, Jamnangar, Junagadh, Kutch, Porbandar, Rajkot, Surat, and Surendranagar, they said.

500 HA Land Earmarked Near Lodhwa Village

Gandhinagar: Government of India conveyed to the Gujarat government on Thursday that it is all set to begin the procedure for setting up the second ultra mega power plant (UMPP) in the state within three months. Central government officials in Gandhinagar on Thursday told state officials that time has come for the latter to be ready with offers on cost of land and infrastructure facilities like water, port and permissions like right of way and right of use, needed to implement the Rs 20,000 crore project.

Gandhinagar: The Reserve Bank of India in its latest report, ‘State Finances: A Study of Budgets of 2011-12’, has identified Gujarat as one of the states where power sector reforms, despite being initiated early, have failed to create the “desired impact” on the financial position of the state power utilities (SPUs). The report says, “Subsidies to SPUs/State Electricity Boards (SEBs) have been rising over the years for Gujarat and Karnataka, which had unbundled utilities”, calling it a “growing area of concern.”

The girl child seems to be disappearing from the progressive and urban areas of Gujarat. The urban centres of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Kutch, Rajkot and Jamnagar districts — that account for 70% of the investments that flowed into Gujarat during the past one decade — have emerged as centres of female foeticide.

Government Tells Assembly That Birds’ Numbers Dropped By 25%

Ahmedabad: Vulture population in Gujarat has dropped to a new low of 1,065 during the last five years. The count recorded in 2007 was 2,539 and ever since then, a sharp decline is seen. The count further dropped to 1,431 in 2008 and the May 2010 count showed that there are just 1,065 vultures in the state. The state government in a reply to a question posed by Karjan MLA Chandu Dabhi said that the vulture count in May 2010 was 1,065,