Ennore Thermal Power Station: Hijacked by ruling party, ex-HC judges seek fresh public hearing

CHENNAI: Pointing out several violations during the public hearing meeting held for the expansion of the Ennore Thermal Power Station (ETPS) including 'hijack' of the podium by ruling party members, retired high court judges urged the expert appraisal committee (EAC) to seek fresh public hearing by engaging an agency by the Union government.

In a letter to the EAC chairperson Sharad Singh Negi and members, retired judges S Muralidhar, K Kannan, and D Hariparanthaman recalled they had collectively raised concerns and fears that the public consultation for the controversial ETPS expansion project might turn out to be a staged event.

"Based on reliable information from Ennore residents, we had alerted you to the possibility that supporters of the project may vitiate the atmosphere of the public hearing and render it hostile for affected people to express their concerns and seek clarification,” they recalled.

The former judges pointed out that the space, where the consultation was conducted, was insufficient and people had to muscle their way into the hall and jostle for a seat or standing room. This effectively eliminated the participation of women and the elderly.

"Even as the seats were getting filled inside the hall, police cordoned off nearly 10 rows of seats in the front and prevented members of the public from occupying it. These rows were then taken over by party functionaries associated with the local MLA. This can be verified by referring to the video which will reveal the MLA and party members occupying these seats,” the letter said.

Informing the EAC that the district collector was not in control of the proceedings, the judges added that the District Collector failed to intervene even when the local MLA rose to bar a member of the public from speaking and grabbed a microphone to declare that only "sons of the soil" and residents of Thiruvottiyur, his constituency, would be permitted to speak, and others from the district would be barred. Access to the podium was blocked by ruling party functionaries and the media, and even those whose names were called were unable to reach the podium.

"The District Collector and the TNPCB official personally acted in violation of the guidelines laid down for the legal conduct of the consultation. Appendix IV of the EIA Notification, 2006, contains the procedure for the conduct of public hearing.

Statutory consultations are formal affairs. The chairperson of the proceedings plays an important role in giving weight, legitimacy and direction to the officials and the police for the smooth conduct of the hearing. We were deeply disturbed to see the video clips of the District Collector walking out of the venue without formally concluding the hearing or allowing all interested people to complete their depositions,” they added.