Ramesh pressured to give go-ahead to Maheshwar project

Minister of Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh has allowed erection of the remaining five radial gate the 400 MW Maheshwar project.

Under unbearable pressure from all sides, he has backed down on his earlier stance to put a stay on construction works at Shree Maheshwar Hydel Power Corporation Limited's project.

The minister, however, has said these gates, which are basically at the centre of the dam and the river, shall not be lowered until satisfactory completion of the rehabilitation and resettlement of the people affected by the project. The order added, that filing up of the reservoir up to 154 metres will be considered only after the R&R work has been completed. Pertinently, the stop work order was imposed by the ministry due to negligible progress on R&R measures by the power utility.