Jaipur: Rajasthan High Court on Monday ordered Hindustan Salt Ltd to refrain from further action to establish a 4,000mW solar plant in Lake Sambhar considering environmental damage and ecological imbalances of the project will be made.
On December 11, TOI has reported that Sambhar Salt Ltd.
Hindustan Salt Ltd subsidiary, has invited interest in interest (EOI) from solar power developers to establish a Mega solar factory.
Amicus Curiae R B Mathur submitted a request to live in a project that attach a copy of the TOI report along with EOI for the project.
“The court recorded the time of the Indian Times report published on December 11 and listened to the details to the argument before passing the command that Hindustan Salt Ltd could receive applications in response to EOI but could not take further action,” Mathur said.
The court was the prime facie satisfied with the worries raised in the application and report toi before passing orders, said Mathur.
Toi has reported that more than 16,000 hectares will be asked to regulate the 4,000MW factory.
This means establishing solar panels in most land.
It is feared that such large-scale projects on wetlands can remove the ecosystem with all its genetic diversity.
At present, there are no single entities responsible for managing Sambhar.
But the Sambhar Multi-Department development agency, which is awaiting the approval of the Department of Law, is expected to play a key role in protecting wetlands and creating a sustainable model for the development of the benefit of the local community.
The solar project with a similar capacity was first proposed by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2013 when he came to Jaipur to campaign for the party in the process of electing the country.
After Vasundhara Raje came to power, the project was junked because it would damage the environment and wetland ecosystem.