Hyderabad: The National Green Tribunal‘s southern zone bench in Chennai refused to grant any stay on the Telangana govt’s Future City Project planned on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Stating that interim orders could not be passed without hearing the parties and without counters being filed, the bench directed the Future City Development Authority (FCDA) and the Union ministry of environment & forests & climate change (MoEFCC) to file counters in the matter. It adjourned the case to June 9 for further hearing.The directions were issued while the bench was hearing a petition filed by Hyderabad-based environmentalist Dr Dhonthi Narsimha Reddy, who alleged that the govt took up development activities for the project without obtaining mandatory prior environmental clearances, in clear violation of environmental laws.Appearing for the FCDA, additional advocate general Tera Rajinikanth Reddy told the bench that the project was at a nascent stage and that no illegal development activity was taking place at the disputed site. He assured that the necessary environmental clearances (EC), as mandated by law, would be obtained at the appropriate time.The petitioner sought a permanent injunction against the development of the Future City project, coming up in around 30,000 acres across 56 villages. Narasimha Reddy alleged that the FCDA had commenced infrastructure work, including laying of roads and issuance of tenders, without obtaining mandatory ECs in areas between the Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar highways, thereby affecting agricultural and pastoral landscapes.He argued that under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) notification of 2006, any township or area development project exceeding 50 hectares requires prior clearance. He added that formal representations sent to the authorities, highlighting the concerns and the legal requirements, had remained unaddressed.He urged the bench to restrain the FCDA from continuing any construction activity in the identified mandals until the required legal clearances are obtained. He also sought a direction to the Union ministry of environment to take formal action against the authority for the alleged statutory violations.
