Public hearing on Pharma City a ‘one-sided’ affair

HYDERABAD:  The much-awaited public hearing on the mega pet project of Telangana government, Hyderabad Pharma City, held on Wednesday, turned out to be nothing but a mere formality to fulfil the requirements for environmental clearance. Some villagers, who protested and shouted slogans, were detained by police. They included Pache Basha, sarpanch of Nakkartha Medipally village in Yacharam mandal in Rangareddy district, where the public hearing was held. I Sathaiah, MPTC member of Meerkhanpet, one of the 10 villages to be affected, was whisked away by plainclothes policemen when he demanded to be heard. 

While 2,000-odd villagers participated in the hearing, only about 40 people, most of whom were not even from the village, spoke at the “public hearing” that lasted a little more than four hours. Almost half of the people who spoke were politicians, environmentalists, activists and pharma company representatives, who will not be directly affected by the project. The proposed Pharma City project is spread over 19,333 acres across 10 villages in Rangareddy district.

Almost all the villagers, who came for the hearing, were dejected and angry as their voices were left unheard by the committee which comprised officials from Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB), Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation(TSIIC), Environment Protection and Training Research Institute(EPTRI) and Rangareddy district collector. 

The TRS and Congress leaders made the public hearing a platform to take jibes at each other.  What casts a serious doubt about the authenticity and usefulness of having a public hearing is that none of the villagers, who attended or spoke, read or knew about the contents of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report developed by EPTRI on Pharma City project. 
Moreover, as per rules, 30 days’ time should be given to people to respond to the EIA report but no villager was informed by the government.