Environment

Daily Court Digest: Major environment orders (July 3, 2019)

Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal

 
By DTE Staff
Published: Wednesday 03 July 2019

Two power plants in Jhajjar asked to submit status of fly ash disposal

M/s NTPC Aravali Power Co (P) Ltd and M/s Jhajjar Power Ltd have been asked to submit reports mentioning the current status of their disposal and management of fly ash within one month by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on July 1, 2019.

The tribunal was responding to a complaint filed by a resident of Jhajjar, who said was suffering from tuberculosis due to the pollution caused by the two plants.

The Chief Medical Officer of Jhajjar district also has to submit a report on the health impact of fly ash in the area within a month. The Haryana State Pollution Control Board has been directed to submit a report on the status of air quality and stack monitoring in respect of the two power plants.

New report to be submitted on Khari river pollution

A polluted stretch of the Kharicut canal, a tributary of the Khari river in Gujarat's Kheda district, would be freshly inspected by a team of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB).  

Industrial effluents have been discharged into the Kharicut canal for a long time. In 1995, the Gujarat High Court had been apprised of the matter and had directed 756 industrial units to pay one per cent of one year’s gross turnover for 1993-94 or 1994-95 to be used for socio-economic uplift of eleven affected villages along the Kharicut. In spite of all this, the pollution has continued and the CPCB has identified the Khari River in Lali village as a polluted river stretch.

While ordering the fresh inspection on July 1, 2019, the NGT also ordered the CPCB and GPCB to furnish a report on the officers of a joint committee, who had submitted a report earlier that showed water pollution taking place, but not at the source. 

The river rejuvenation committee has been asked to take stock of the situation and furnish a report on the action taken.

Sirmaur plant asked to stop its polluting activities

Recommendations suggested by the Himachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board (HPSPCB) and the district magistrate, Sirmaur about managing emissions by M/s Valley Iron and Steel Company were to be carried out and a report was to be submitted, the NGT said on July 1, 2019.

The tribunal was listening to an application filed by the residents of Rampur village in Sirmaur district. The complainants had alleged the burning of rubber tyres and use of prohibited raw materials in the processes of the unit.

That emissions were indeed not being properly controlled and the extraction of wire from rubber tyres was causing pollution had been mentioned in the report by the HPSPCB and the magistrate too

A status report has to be filed after three months on the matter.

Polluting brick kilns of Ghaziabad to pay compensation

Brick kilns operating illegally in the Modinagar and Muradnagar areas of Ghaziabad district in Uttar Pradesh will have to pay compensation for the pollution they have caused in the area, the counsel for the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) told NGT on July 1, 2019.

The tribunal, through its previous order had directed the district magistrate and the UPPCB to take appropriate action and furnish a factual and action-taken report in the matter.

The submitted report mentioned that out of 42 brick kilns in the area, 25 were found to be operating without valid consent of the UPPCB and action was initiated against the 25 defaulting brick kilns.

The UPPCB counsel further stated that compensation on ‘polluters pay’ principle would be completed within next three months and a further action taken report filed.

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