Ministry says there will be no out-of-court settlement Lavasa Corporation has asked for time to consider a solution Final order has been issued for furnishing information The court on Thursday granted six weeks to the Lavasa Corporation Limited (LCL) to submit documents demanded by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in its final order passed on January 17. The Ministry has clarified there will be no out-of-court settlement. The Lavasa Corporation issued a...

Controversies surrounding the two real estate projects, the Adarsh Society building in Mumbai and the Lavasa city near Pune, bring to the fore the huge costs of poor enforcement of town planning rules and inept administration of urban development. In the case of Adarsh housing, a 31-storeyed apartment building raised in the Backbay reclamation area and meant for Kargil heroes, the Maharashtra government not only turned a blind eye to...

The National Fishermen's Federation (NFF) has expressed displeasure over the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification (CRZ), 2011, in its present form, and accused Union Minister of Environment and Forests (MoEF) Jairam Ramesh of having taken the organisation for a ride by not incorporating some of the provisions that had been agreed upon in the talks between the Ministry and NFF representatives ahead of the notification. Matanhy Saldanha, chairman of the NFF, on...

Bombay High Court gives one week-extension to the Ministry The Bombay High Court on Friday gave an extension of one week to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to pass its final order on whether the planned hill-city Lavasa near Pune has violated any environmental regulations. The Ministry will now pass the final order by January 17. Additional Solicitor-General Darius Khambatta told TheHindu: “The MoEF applied for and was granted an...

Chairman of the expert team of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) Naresh Dayal said on Friday that prima facie there was no large-scale destruction of forest land for the controversial hill city project, Lavasa. Speaking to journalists on the third and final day of inspection, Mr. Dayal said that contradictory to the allegations made by social activists Medha Patkar and Anna Hazare, Pune's water supply would not be affected...