Yet another legal hurdle for Jagan: NGT halts RLIP

The Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh, which has been facing legal hurdles for its each and every decision in the last one year, has faced yet another hurdle from the court.

The National Green Tribunal on Thursday stalled the construction of the much-publicised Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Project (RLIP) proposed on Krishna river in the backwaters of Srisailam reservoir to draw three tmc ft of water per day to irrigate parched lands of Rayalaseema.

Acting on a petition filed by a Telangana activist Gavinolla Srinivas, the green tribunal made it clear to the Jagan government that it should not go ahead with the construction of Rayalaseema lift scheme, unless it obtained all clearances from the Centre, including the environmental clearance.

It also directed that the Jagan government submits a detailed project report (DPR) to the Union ministry of Jal Sakthi and unless the project report is approved, it cannot take up the construction.

The NGT gave its order based on the report submitted by the Union ministry that the Rayalaseema lift scheme does not have any approval from the Centre and that the state had not submitted its DPR to the ministry till now.

The NGT bench comprising Justice Ramakrishnan and irrigation expert Sibal Das Gupta brushed aside the argument of the state government that Rayalaseema lift scheme was not a new project but only part of the Telugu Ganga project and there is no additional ayacut involved in it.

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