Adarsh Housing Society , Jindal Steel get more time to reply

India?s environment ministry on Wednesday gave the Adarsh Housing Society till Dec. 24 and Jindal Steel till Dec 22 to reply to its show-cause notices.

The counsel for Adarsh Housing Society had requested an inspection of letters and and other details mentioned in the notice slapped on to it by the ministry.

The ministry on Wednesday said the documents would be made available on Dec. 20 and it will have four days to prepare its reply. It had earlier turned down the controversy-hit residential project?s plea seeking four weeks time to reply.

The government had sent the notice to the society asking why the structure should not be razed for violating its norms.

The 30-storey apartment has been in the centre of a brewing sham over the land it was built upon, its environment clearances and the allotment of flats. The controversy had even led to the resignation of Ashok Chavan as the Maharashtra Chief Minister on earlier this month.

Meanwhile, turning down Jindal Steel’s request for time till Jan. 14 to assemble its reply, the ministry has offered the company till Dec. 22 for a reply by letter and till Dec. 29 for a personal hearing.

The government had threatened to revoke the environmental clearance of the USD 6 billion proposed plant of Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. set to come up in Orissa unless the company verified that its agreement with the ministry was not breached.

In a statement released earlier, the Ministry of Environment and Forests said that Jindal Steel, violating its 2007 agreement, was carrying out construction in the 162 hectares of forest land included in the project area.