Madras High Court Expressed Environmental Concern on RIL gas project

Madras High Court Expressed Environmental Concern on RIL gas project
On 19 July 2010, A bench of Madras High Court including Justice Prabha Sridevan and Justice GM Akbar Ai while, disposing a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) asked the RIL(Reliance Industries Limited) to first assess its effect of natural gas project on the local population and environment before embarking on it.
The PIL filed in the court made allegations against the RIL that the company’s project which includes establishing a block valve station and pipeline on the Godavari basin in Dariyalatippu village in Adavipulam in Yanam will have a bad affect on the lives of the fishermen there and the environment.
Madras High Court bench also ordered the Andhra Pradesh state government to certify that any damage as a result of the operations of the natural gas project could be corrected. RIL should have a mechanism in place if any disaster occurs.
The bench stated clearly that the Andhra Pradesh government should set up a necessary infrastructure to make time to time surveys of the project and to direct the company to publish the designs of the project to make it more transparent.
The PIL was filed by MS Saj Kumar of Yanam, a region in Andhra Pradesh and under the administrative control of Pondicherry Union Territory.
In the wake of latest developments in the Bhopal gas tragedy case the courts have stiffened their attitude towards corporate projects which have any adverse affect on the environment/ecology of the nation.