Wasteland or wetland?

Nirma loses wetland

THE union environment ministry has revoked the clearance it had granted to the detergent giant Nirma to construct a cement plant in Gujarat. The 1.91-million-tonnes-per-annum plant is under construction in Mahuva block of Bhavnagar district.

Court raps environment ministry

ON SEPTEMBER 9, the Supreme Court ordered detergent company Nirma to file its reply to the show cause notice issued by the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) within three months. MoEF had issued the notice in May, asking the company to explain within two weeks why the environmental clearance granted to its cement plant in Gujarat should not be revoked. The site is believed to be on wetlands.

Nirma's cement plant hits hurdle

In a setback to Nirma industries, the Supreme Court has asked the company to prove that the land allocated to it in Gujarat to set up a cement plant is wasteland. Otherwise the project should be scrapped, said a bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia.

Nirma plant in trouble again

THE Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) has asked detergent company Nirma to explain why the environmental clearance granted to its cement plant in Gujarat should not be revoked. The ministry issued a show cause notice to the company on May 11 after a report by a group of experts showed the plant was violating environmental norms.

Apex court spanner in Nirma cement plant

The Supreme Court has ordered a new environmental study of the site where detergent company Nirma is setting up a cement plant. The site in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, is believed to be on wetlands.

Letter

What is so hilarious about it?

Nirma whitewash

About a decade ago, farmers of 15 villages in Mahuva block in coastal Saurashtra could barely grow one crop a year. This was because the groundwater they used for irrigation was saline. Their fortunes changed in 2000 when the Gujarat government created a reservoir—Samadhiyala bandhara— by building a dam at the mouth of the river Shensuri that flows through Mahuva. The dam prevented sea water from entering the river. The reservoir’s sweet water helped farmers grow up to three crops a year and set up agro-processing units. But the good times were not to last. In 2008, the state government allotted part of the reservoir and its catchment area, totalling 268 hectares (ha), to detergent company Nirma to set up a cement plant.

Chronology

September 2008: People register protest against allotting water body for Nirma’s cement plant at the public hearing December 2008: Union environment ministry grants environmental clearance on the basis of rapid EIA report, which describes the project site as wasteland

Water v industry: where is the question?

Some hundred people, men and women, were gathered on the hill. Many more, I could see, were trudging up. Their faces were resolute. I asked why they were opposing the cement plant.