Lavasa not ready to accept conditions imposed by Ministry of Environment and Forests for hill city

MUMBAI: Lavasa Corp, whose hill city near Pune has run into legal and green hurdles, on Tuesday told the Bombay High Court that it cannot accept the preconditions imposed by Ministry of Environment and Forests on the multi-crore project as doing so would "tantamount to admission of guilt when there is none".

On June 27, the MoEF sent a letter to Lavasa stating it should first comply with five pre-conditions recommended by the Experts Appraisal Committee (EAC) after which the ministry would consider giving the realty firm environment clearance for construction of the sprawling township.

The conditions included 'a credible action' by the Maharashtra government against Lavasa for violations under Environment (Protection) Act, a resolution from the Board of Directors of Lavasa that violations would not be repeated, an undertaking that development of the hill town (also called Lavasa) shall be as per Hill Station Regulations and a clear demarcation of 'no development/construction zone'.