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Media Room
Press Releases :
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  Hot Water Discharge from REL's Plant |
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| FGD Campaign |
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| April 17, 2006 |
To Hell with the Environment - Reliance Energy Endangers the Chikoo Bowl of India. . . Business Ed. |
| April 16, 2006 |
Chikoo region feels gassed. . . CNN-IBN |
| March 29, 2005 |
REL ropes in US firm for Dahanu operations. . . The Economic Times |
| March 24, 2005 |
Environment body asks Reliance Energy to pay Rs 300 cr. . . The Hindu Business Line |
| Dec. 15, 2004 |
Black Attack. . . Down To Earth |
| Dec. 10, 2004 |
Dahanu under siege. . . Central Chronicle |
| April 28, 2004 |
Reliance Dahanu plant to operate only for a year. . . Business Line |
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| P & O Campaign |
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| May 2002 |
Reflections on an Environmental Struggle: P&O, Dahanu. . . Oren Perez |
| Dec. 1998 |
A controversial project. . . UNESCO Courier |
| August 31, 1998 |
Paradise Threatened by Massive Port Plan in India. . . Forest Conservation Portal |
| May 1998 |
A port project under fire. . .Frontline |
| Jan. 16, 1998 |
India (Port Development). . . Hansard - The Official Report (U.K. Parliament) |
| 1997 |
Protest march against P&O. . . Corporate Watch |
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| Dahanu General |
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| April 2005 |
Dahanu: The Environmentalists versus The People. . . InfoChange News & Features |
| June 06, 2004 |
Flashpoint in Dahanu ..... acres of farmland at stake. . . The Hindu |
| April 21, 2004 |
Dahanu: pollution, power and the polls. . . The Hindu |
| Sept. 01, 2003 |
Can government be its own watchdog? |
| June 2003 |
Environmentalists vs BSES: Eco-fragile Dahanu battles on. . . InfoChange News & Features |
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Dahanu Taluka and the DTEPA, Maharashtra. . . A collection of Case Studies |
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| Press Releases |
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MPCB tests hot water discharge from REL’s thermal power plant in the presence of community members
Apri 04, 2006: The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) conducted tests in the presence of local groups and community representatives to asses the temperature of the water discharged from Reliance’s 500 MW plant in Dahanu.
Community representatives refused to accept the findings of the MPCB, which showed the discharge to be within permissible limits, given that this was no surprise visit. They conducted tests once again later in the afternoon in the presence of the press. They found the temperature to be higher than permitted, vindicating the fears of the community.
“We have reason to believe that the results of the tests cannot be taken as indicative of the real problem of hot water discharge in view of the fact that it was a pre-announced test. Moreover, one day is simply insufficient to ascertain the problem” stated Michelle Chawla, representative of the DTEWA who was present during the tests.
“The community has been complaining of hot water discharge especially in the months of April and May and this is having an effect on marine life, specifically on prawns. Moreover, due to the continuous flow of hot water, the northern banks of the creek are eroding and some fishermen are unable to place their nets in areas where they have been doing so traditionally” said Brian Lobo, member of the Kashtkari Sanghatana
The MPCB tests were conducted in response to a complaint filed by local groups and the affected community of inland fisherfolk residing in Pale–Lingapada very close to the Plant, stating that their livelihood was severely affected by the hot water discharge from the plant.
Moreover, the local environmental group, the Dahanu Taluka Environment Welfare Association (DTEWA) had conducted preliminary tests of the water discharged from the Plant and found it to be beyond permissible limits. As per the consent conditions issued by MPCB to Reliance Energy in 2004, the maximum temperature of the hot water discharged had to be within the limit of 50 Centigrade of the intake. However readings from an industrial thermometer showed the inlet temperature at 260C while the outlet went as high as 350 C, 40C higher than permitted.
They made a strong case before the Dahanu Taluka Environment Protection Authority (DTEPA) on the March 21st meeting and the Chairman, (retd. ) Justice Dharmadhikari then directed the MPCB to Iconduct fresh tests in their presence..
A dissent note was signed after the tests were conducted on by the representatives stating that continuous and regular monitoring was required to get a clearer assessment of the problem. They also demanded that a more permanent system of monitoring be installed at the site of intake and at the outlet.
For more information contact:
Michelle Chawla - 9860030888 (michelle@freedahanu.org)
Brian Lobo - (02528) 225176 (kasht@bluebottle.com)
MMB reopens plans for port in eco-fragile Dahanu
March 23, 2006:
In a move that has shocked the local communities and environmentalists, the Maharahstra Maritime Board (MMB) has recently reopened its plans to set up an industrial port in Vadhavan, despite an order passed in 1998 declaring it illegal and impermissible.
In response to a global tender floated by the Maharashtra Maritime Board in 1996, to set up an all weather industrial port in Alewadi, Palghar, P&O Ports Australia submitted its bid. A clause in the tender agreement allowed for a change of location and the company opted to locate the port in Vadhavan, that falls in ecologically fragile Dahanu.
This proposal was met with massive opposition from the local farmers, fisherfolk, traditional die-makers and environmentalists. Locals living in Vadhavan village refused entry to the company officials to even survey the area. The main concerns being that a port of this magnitude and scale was not permissible in an area designated ecologically fragile and would completely destroy the natural resources and livelihoods of the local people.
Ironically around the time of the bid, the Supreme Court of India directed the setting up of a special quasi-judicial Authority to oversee the development of Dahanu given that it was a declared eco-fragile areas. The Dahanu Taluka Environment Protection Authority (DTEPA) was set up to ascertain the kind of development in Dahanu and if this was in consonance with the principles of sustainability.
Functioning as a democratic peoples court, the DTEPA held a series of hearings for over a period of a year and a half to decide on the question of a port in Dahanu. Detailed legal submissions were made by the company, the local communities and environmentalists. Studies were submitted on the impact of the port on the ecology, natural resources and livelihood of people of the region.
In September 1998, the Authority passed a landmark order that declared a port in Vadhavan, Dahanu “ illegal and wholly impermissible”. It stated that the coastline of Dahanu was a declared CRZ-1 zone and large scale construction could not be permitted there. Moreover the order categorically stated that Regional Plan of Dahanu had no provisions for a port of this scale and nature, and could not be altered to accommodate one.
Additionally as per the Dahanu Notification of 1991 that declared Dahanu ecologically fragile, the total industrial area was restricted to 500 acres. A 2.4 $ billion port project with its back up infrastructure capable of eventually handling 300 million tones of cargo would definitely be prohibited under this notification.
However disgruntled with this order, the Maharashtra Maritime Board filed a revision petition in March 1999 before the Ministry of Environment and Forests seeking that the Authority’s order be revoked for several reasons, one of them being that the port could not be classified as an industry.
In response to the petition, the Ministry’s stated in September 1999, that it had no appellate powers to exercise jurisdiction over the Authority’s orders. In spite of the Ministry holding up the Authority’s decision as final and binding, the MMB pursued the matter and filed a writ petition in the Mumbai High Court in June 2002.
However it was only now in February 2006 that they finally admitted the matter and a preliminary hearing was held. The case is soon expected to come up for hearing in the Mumbai High Court.
For more information please contact:
Michelle Chawla (Dahanu Taluka Environment Welfare Association)
Mob: 9860030888Email: michelle@freedahanu.org
Narayan Patil (Vadhavan Bandar Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti)
Mob: 9422662236Res: 02528-269014.
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