Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal
Brick kilns in the Budgam district, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), are regulated by the pollution control committee, the J&K government informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on April 19, 2023.
There are 213 brick kilns operating in Budgam. Based on the committee's suggestions, 96 notices have been issued against the brick kiln owners who have not renewed their consent to operate and 46 uncomplying units have been served closure orders, the government said.
Steps are being taken to control pollution in Buddha Nullah, a stream in Ludhiana city and the Sutlej river, the Punjab government told the NGT on April 17.
Some 300 dyeing units have been operating near these waterbodies, of which 252 fall in the catchment area of Buddha Nullah.
Three common effluent treatment plants (CETP) with a total capacity of 105 million litres per day are installed for treating wastewater discharged from these industries.
All these CETPs are discharging treated wastewater into Buddha Nullah. The state government had already prepared an action plan for cleaning the Sutlej, the report said.
The NGT quashed an appeal against the forest clearance and an interim approval to fell trees granted to the POWERGRID Fatehgarh Transmission Ltd. The approval was given in 2021 for constructing a transmission line in Rajasthan.
The tribunal, on April 19, said POWERGRID had taken due permission from the forest authorities as required under the Forest Act, 1980 and there is no direct violation of forest rules.
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