Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal
A proposal to fell around 938 trees to make way for a bridge over Shali/Sali river in Bankura district, West Bengal needs consideration, said the National Green Tribunal, August 17, 2023.
The court directed a notice be issued to the district magistrate for Bankura; superintendent of police, Bankura; special land acquisition oficer, Bankura and district forest officer, South Bankura among others.
The applicant Nirmal Kumar Singha told the NGT the tree felling was illegal. He had planted 1,100 trees (plot No.815, Mouza Kapila, Police Station Gangajalghati, Bankura district) and 938 trees of then have survived and are growing due to the care taken by the applicant, he further submitted.
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) decided to build a bridge over Shali river and issued a notice for acceptance of compensation to Singha, the applicant stated. He had filed his objections in writing before the special land acquisition officer, Bankura during a hearing on August 12, 2022, but the officer declined to accept it, Singha further said.
The forest beat officer, Gangajalghati range, inspected the land in question and sanctioned the tree felling, the applicant said. A wood merchant Santi Sutradhar manufactured false and unfilled documents on which sanction has been granted by the forest ranger ignoring the provisions of the Indian Forest Act, Singha alleged.
The government has issued notice for acquisition of the land and valuation of the trees has also been determined by the special land acquisition officer, he added.
A report filed by the Rajasthan Pollution Control Board (RPCB) showed untreated sewage is still being discharged directly in the Kothari river, causing pollution and degrading environment, the NGT noted.
The member secretary, RPCB stated industrial effluents were not being discharged directly in the river, as all industries are following the zero-liquid discharge (ZLD) is a water treatment process.
However, when the court questioned as to how much residue has been generated in the last two years and the manner in which it has been disposed of, the member secretary could not give any reply and requested for more of time. The request was accepted by the court.
The NGT, Eastern Zone Bench directed the district magistrate for Vaishali to serve a copy of the notice of the original application to the dairy owner of Raj Fresh Dairy and file a report of service of the same along with the affidavit.
Ammonia gas leakage on June 24, 2023 at the dairy plant at Hajipur in Vaishali district of Bihar had led to the death of one and injury to 35 people. The matter was listed for August 31, 2023 for the next hearing.
The court order was in response to the information given that a notice was sent from the office of the NGT to the Raj Fresh Dairy, which was returned back with the postal report that no one was traceable at the address.
The report filed by the deputy collector, Palakkad, Kerala informed the NGT, August 17, 2023 the dumping yard of the Ottapalam municipality located in Panamanna ward was not contaminating the stream running nearby. An agency from Kozhikode has cleared the legacy waste, it said.
Biodegradable waste was treated with a decentralised method, the report said. Homes in municipalities were provided with biogas plants, bio bins, pipe composts and ring composts. Two centralised Thumboormozhi model compost boxes are provided but they are not functioning properly, it added.
The clearing of the dumped waste was done manually without using any mechanical means like trommels or dusters. The separated plastic waste was boiled and transported to cement kilns and other remains deposited in the dumping area and levelled, the report said.
About 980 tonnes was cleaned and waste of around 2,000 tonnes is remaining. During an inspection conducted by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board officer, no bio mining activities were seen, it added.
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