Acting Chief Justice Devinder Gupta and Justice K.S. Gupta today also asked the `Flyash Mission' of the Department of Science and Technology if it had developed any material using flyash which could be used as an alternative for wood in construction work.

The draft notification, with detailed guidelines on flyash usage, was issued by the government in May last year. Several associations objected to it, primary among them being the All India Brick and Tile Manufactures Association (AIBTMA).

During the hearing of the PIL today, government counsel Rekha Palli said the association had taken objection to the ban on the excavation of top soil within a 50-km radius of thermal power plants as mentioned in the draft notification.

The objection was raised at a meeting held on February 17 to discuss the draft policy, which was attended by Union Environment Minister P. Prabhu, Urban Development Minister Ram Jethmalani, Power Minister P.R. Kumaramangalam and 11 senior government officials. Another meeting is likely to be held shortly to finalise the matter, Palli told the court.