Nature activists oppose Sharavathi Pumped Storage Project in Western Ghat sanctuary limits
Bengaluru: Environmental activists have expressed concern regarding the impact of the Sharavathi Pumped Storage Project in the Lion Tailed Macaque (LTM) Sanctuary over the Western Ghats and have written an open letter to the state government, asking why it was in a hurry to implement the project.
Twelve activists and conservationists have written to the government under the banner of ‘Vrushalaksha Andolana’, challenging the stance of the state Forest and Environment Department as regards the project, reports Deccan Herald. The group points out that the project will negatively impact the fragile ecology of the Western Ghats and states that it will launch a movement to spread awareness about the matter among the people.
Anant Hegade Ashisar of the Andolana said that the Forest Department has approved and recommended the project to the Union Environment Ministry. Further, the government has given the tender to implement the project, but the matter has not been brought to the notice of the farmers, fishermen and residents in the Western Ghat areas.
The 2,000MW project, which has been proposed by the KPCL, requires 378 acres (153 hectares), including about 126 acres (52.62 hectares) of forest land spread over Honnavar, Shivamogga Wildlife and Sagar divisions. Within the forest land, 97 acres are the part of the LTM sanctuary.
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CBI registers another FIR against ED's assistant director over bribery
New Delhi, Dec 30: The CBI has registered one more FIR in connection with alleged bribery scandal involving Enforcement Directorate's assistant director posted in Shimla, who had escaped during a trap operation conducted by the agency there last week, officials said Monday.
The CBI has now registered two FIRs with one pertaining to alleged bribe demand of Rs 85 lakh and another of Rs 80 lakh from the promoters of educational institutes in Himachal Pradesh, they said.
The promoters, who were also the complainant in the case, addressed a press conference in Shimla, alleging that the assistant director used to call them to office, torture them and demanded bribe.
The officer and two of his staff members made us sit in the Shimla ED office for hours during which they would keep demanding money, they alleged.
The CBI has three suspects under scanner in the case with the brother of the accused and a middleman already arrested, while the officer is understood to be on the run and has not joined the investigation so far, they said.
The assistant director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) posted at Shimla and his brother, a senior manager at the Punjab National Bank in Delhi, had allegedly gone to a location near Chandigarh to receive the bribe from an educational institute promoter, who is facing a probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the officials said.
The case pertains to post-matriculation scholarship scam in Himachal Pradesh.
The owner of the educational institute had filed a complaint with the CBI about alleged extortion, based on which the Chandigarh unit of the agency planned the trap operation, where the complainant was asked to give a bribe of Rs 55 lakh in cash to the officer, with CBI sleuths keeping an eye, the officials said.
The plan was that the CBI would nab the accused after the bribe was received by him, they said.
The ED officer, who is on deputation from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), got alerted during the operation and allegedly fled, the officials said.
The agency has been trying to locate him for seven days.
So far, cash amounting to around Rs 1 crore, including the bribe money, has been allegedly recovered during searches, the officials said.
Sources in the ED said the accused assistant director of its Shimla sub-zonal office and his supervisory officers -- a deputy director and the joint director (based in Chandigarh) -- have been transferred to Delhi following the case.
