Centre to reply on EIA translation

A division bench comprising Justice MM Sundresh and Justice R Hemalatha ordered notice to the Centre in this regard on Friday returnable by August 13 on a public interest litigation moved by Meenava Thanthai, an organisation working for the cause of the fishermen community.

However, the bench refused to grant a separate order of stay in the matter as the Karnataka High Court has already issued an order restricting the publication of the final EIA notification until September 17.

Petitioner’s counsel G Stanly Henzon Singh submitted that the petitioner was not against the draft EIA notification as such, but was concerned that the people, especially in rural and coastal areas, do not know about it or understand it to raise their objections if any.

Hence, the EIA notification ought to be translated into Tamil if the rights of the villagers in Tamil Nadu have to be protected, the counsel said.