STALLED, AGAIN: The Lavasa project. (Fotocorp)

Mumbai/New Delhi, Oct. 14: A construction conglomerate today sought the Prime Minister’s direct intervention in the scrutiny of its proposed Lavasa hill city in Maharashtra after the Union environment ministry again declined to clear the first phase of the 5000-hectare project.

The ministry told Lavasa Corporation Ltd (LCL) it would not issue environmental clearance to the first phase because one of five conditions imposed earlier this year remains unfulfilled. The condition was “credible action” by the Maharashtra government against Lavasa’s violations of environment laws.

LCL chairperson Ajit Gulabchand, a friend of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, termed the order “absurd” and a “travesty of justice”.

He appealed to the Prime Minister to intervene in the clearance process that has taken over a year. The environment ministry had first halted activity at the site near Pune 11 months ago. Lavasa claims the stoppage of construction is bleeding it financially, with an estimated loss of Rs 2 crore loss daily.

“We appeal to the Prime Minister and his cabinet to intervene in this process now. We would also like to invite the PM and the entire cabinet to the project to see the inclusive growth and environment compliances that we have fulfilled in the project,” Gulabchand said in Mumbai.

Construction at Lavasa, around a picturesque lake off the Lonavala hill station near Pune, was halted in November 2010 after then environment minister Jairam Ramesh issued a showcause notice alleging violations and setting the stage for a court battle. In January 2011, an appraisal committee of the ministry visited the project site.

This June, the ministry directed the Maharashtra environment department to initiate action under the Environmental Protection Act. The project had violated the act by continuing construction over a 681-hectare area without securing prior environmental clearance under the Environment Impact Assessment notification of 2006.

The ministry also imposed four other conditions on LCL: a pledge from the company that it would not repeat violations; a well-planned disaster management plan; a policy on corporate environmental responsibility; and earmarking five per cent of the project cost for corporate social responsibility activities.

At a meeting this August, Lavasa representatives made submissions to the environment ministry about the actions relating to the four conditions they had already taken or intended to take. Following that, the ministry said it had noticed “a sort of willingness of the company to comply with stipulations”.

However, in its new order issued on Thursday, the ministry said it is unable to issue environmental clearance as “credible action” by the Maharashtra government remains to be taken.

“We had raised the issue in Bombay High Court on July 20 and on September 3, and the court directed us to get clarifications on legal issues from the ministry,” a government source said.

On September 24, following complaints by Lavasa that the ministry was dragging its feet on granting clearance, the court directed the ministry to take a decision on granting post-facto clearance to the project within three weeks.

The ministry’s latest order comes ahead of the next court hearing scheduled on October 18.