AHMEDABAD: After the public hearing for Vedanta Group’s Hindustan Zinc’s smelter plant turned violent in Tapi district, Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) leader and Jhagadia MLA Chhotubhai Vasava filed a PIL in the Gujarat high court, demanding that the project implementation be done by following provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act.
Earlier this month, police had to lob 30 tear-gas shells to disperse mobs that turned violent at Doswada village in Tapi district during the public hearing arranged by the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB). The hearing was organized according to the environmental rules laid down by the Centre. The public hearing was held after the state government had signed a pact with Hindustan Zinc for a smelter complex with a capacity of 3 lakh tonnes per annum, entailing investment of Rs 10,000 crore, on 415 acres in the village.
According to the petitioner’s advocate, Mahesh Vasava, the PIL seeks HC directions to the authorities to follow the terms and conditions of PESA to establish an industrial unit in a tribal area. It requests a resolution from the gram sabha endorsing the project. The public hearing had certain restrictions due to Covid-19 rules and people expressed their protest at it.
The MLA urged the HC to direct that PESA provisions, especially those contained in Section 4, be followed. After getting a consensus at the gram sabha, a public hearing can be held by the authorities for the project.
The PIL is likely to come up for hearing soon.
