The Supreme Court on Monday sought a report from Ministry of Environment and Forest on whether the proposed cement plant of Nirma on the Saurashtra coastline would pollute or adversely affect the water body and the region.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia issued notice to the ministry, asking it to reply in a month’s time in response to an appeal filed by a group of farmers – Mahuva Bandhara Khetiwadi Pariyavaran Bachav Samittee against Gujarat high court’s (HC) decision. The plant has been proposed on the seashore of Mahuva in Bhavnagar district.

The farmers have been protesting the state government’s decision to allot a 268ha land to the company near a check dam and its huge water reservoir.

The Supreme Court also made an observation that if the report is negative, it could scrap the project.