Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Veerappa Moily today took over additional charge of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Replying to questions from reporters just after taking his new charge, Mr Moily said there should be no conflict between development and protection of environment.

He said there would be no compromise on the green mandate of the ministry and he would go by set rules and laws in clearing or blocking developmental projects.

He sought to emphasize that the Environment Ministry was a regulator where rules of the game should be strictly followed. About petroleum and gas projects worth millions of rupees of his Ministry stuck due to environmental objections, Mr Moily said he would look into the matter.

Mr. Moily was given additional charge of the Environment Ministry after his predecessor Jayanthi Natarajan stepped down last week to work for the party.