Mahanadi row: Jolt to Chhattisgarh as NGT stays 6 grade-A projects

New Delhi: In what can be termed as a major jolt to the Chhattisgarh government, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) today stayed as many as 31 projects of the government on Mahanadi river including six grade-A projects.

The NGT’s Kolkata bench has issued a stay order on construction on 31 projects including six grade-A projects of the Chhattisgarh government on the Mahanadi, said social activist Sudarsan Das, who had moved the green court seeking a stay on the construction.

He said out of 81 projects, the order will prevail on the 31 projects, which are yet to be constructed.

Though these projects possess environmental clearance, work for the projects cannot commence without the permission of the tribunal, he added.

Next hearing has been scheduled for August 25.

Das had moved the NGT seeking stay on these projects on behalf of Agami Odisha, an apolitical forum.

He had sought the tribunal immediately intervene and direct Chhattisgarh government to stop constructions upstream of Mahanadi as these projects would deeply affect the fragile ecology as well as lives of people in Odisha.