ECONOMYNEXT – Three eminent environmentalists and a Bishop have filed a fundamental rights (FR) petition in Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court over Adani Green Energy’s Mannar wind power plant citing lack of transparency, secrecy of public information, biased environmental impact assessement (EIA), and the pricing, a court document showed.
Eminent environmentalists Rohan Pethiyagoda, professor Nimal Gunatilleke, and Professor Sarath Kotagama along with Bishop of Mannar Reverend Fr. Bastian, filed a fundamental rights petition in the public interest, against the procurement and construction of the proposed 250-megawatt wind power project in Mannar.
The project has been awarded on an unsolicited manner to India-based Adani Green Energy PTE Ltd without any competitive bidding.
The fresh case has named 67 respondents including the Cabinet of Ministers, the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority (SLSEA), Central Environmental Authority (CEA), Board of Investments (BOI), the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), the Public Utilities Commission Sri Lanka (PUCSL) and the Attorney General (AG) among many others.
The petition raises concerns regarding the credibility of the EIA carried for the project, the role played by the SLSEA, certain procedural issues in the awarding of the purported contract, and questions the definition of the project as a Government-to-Government deal amid criticism over the deal being awarded to a private firm led by a business mogul close to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The Petitioners, being concerned by the secrecy and lack of information and transparency, as well as the apparent illegality, unlawfulness and/or irregularity, surrounding matters relating to the Project, have filed the instant application to further the national interest, preserve and protect public property, including the environment, flora and fauna, public finances and to safeguard the rights and freedoms of the general public of Sri Lanka and its future generations,” the petition seen by EconomyNext showed.
It has questioned the basis for the negotiated tariff at a fixed 8.26 cents US dollar per kilowatt-hour (KWh) for a period of 20 years when the EIA was conducted its assessment based on a cost of 4.6 cents US dollar, potentially causing considerable financial loss to the country and a burden on consumers.
In seeking relief, the petitioners urge that the Supreme Court declare that there is a violation of the fundamental rights of the petitioners and citizenry at large, declare that the decisions made to award the project to Adani as wrongful, and calls for any consequential actions undertaken, to be declared illegal.
It has also called to reveal the EIA for the 234MW Wind Power Plant of at Northern Sri Lankan town of Pooneryn, Technical Evaluation Committee Report, if any, for the both 250MW Wind Power Plant in Mannar and Pooneryn.
The petitioners have also urged the Supreme Court to issue an interim order to temporarily suspend the project until all the concerns raised in the petition are determined.
Adani Green Energy’s wind energy project, coming up in Sri Lanka’s northern Mannar and Pooneryn districts, has been challenged in the island’s apex court on grounds of potential environmental impact and “lack of transparency”.
Last month, Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS), one of Sri Lanka’s oldest environmental organisations filed a FR petition at the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, citing that it was aiming to protect “the unique ecosystem of Mannar Island”.
Officials from Adani Group were not immediately available for comment. However, the Indian company has complained of a possible “vicious campaign” against its 250 MW wind-powered energy project in Mannar and has said it has followed all the procedures.
Some government officials have said they have been under pressure to speed up the approval process as Indian government has been directly backing the Adani’s wind power project. (Colombo/June 11/2024)