On Thursday, the Andhra Pradesh High Court granted an interim stay on a GO that allotted land to NCC Power Projects Ltd. (NCCPPL) at Sompeta in Srikakulam district.
NCCPPL, a subsidiary of Nagarjuna Construction Company, had planned a 2,640 MW thermal power plant at a cost of Rs. 12,000 crore at the site. However, Justice Nuti Ramamohan Rao has said that no work will be allowed at the location now. Farmers who had lost their land to NCCPPL had approached the High Court to get the GO quashed.
The GO, issued on 15 September 2008, enabled NCCPPL to acquire 972 acres of land allotted by the AP Government. In addition, the company had purchased 573 acres of land from private owners.
In the last one year, Sompeta has seen uprisings from local farmers and fishermen, and environmental activists, who have protested the construction of the proposed power plant. Opponents of the power project say it is harmful to the environment, and that it will endanger the livelihood of locals.
In July 2010, 3 were killed in police firing during a protest.
This was immediately followed by the National Environmental Appellate Authority (NEAA) rejecting environmental clearance for the project.
Sompeta and activists who have opposed the plant have hailed the verdict.
filed in:Environment, Nagarjuna Construction Company