Prithviraj Chavan asks Centre to grant green nod to Lavasa

Terming Lavasa project as important to Maharashtra, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan today asked the Centre to give the green nod to the first phase of the proposed Hill City."I have requested to the Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan to grant environment clearance to Lavasa Phase-I if all the pre-conditions set by the ministry have been fulfilled," he told reporters here.Chavan's request comes on a day when the Maharashtra government filed a criminal case against Lavasa Corporation, the promoters of Lavasa Hill City in the district for alleged violations of the Environment Protection Act (EPA), fulfilling the fifth and final pre-condition of the Environment Ministry for granting clearance to the first phase of the hill city.One of the pre-conditions was taking credible action against Lavasa for alleged violation of the Environment Protection Act in the hill city project. The action by the state government was initiated following directions from the Bombay High Court.Chavan said the hill city project was important as it involved huge investments in the state."People have not taken environment laws seriously which has led to cases like Adarsh and Lavasa.... Nobody is bigger than the law," he said.Chavan also had meetings with Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee during which various issues related to the state came up for discussion.He dismissed suggestions that the state government had softened its stand on the project."There is no change of approach. What are you talking about," Chavan told a questioner.