Daily Court Digest: Major environment orders (June 22, 2020)

Care of COVID-19 patients

The Supreme Court on June 19 directed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to constitute an expert committee that will inspect, supervise and issue necessary directions to all hospitals in the National Capital Territory of Delhi taking care of COVID-19 patients. 

Other states too have been ordered to constitute an expert team of doctors and other experts for inspection, supervision and guidance of government hospitals and other hospitals dedicated to COVID-19.

The chief secretary of each state should ensure that such committees are immediately constituted, so that they can start their works within a period of seven days.

Trident Complex

The Punjab Pollution Control Board in its report on the Trident Complex comprising of nine industries of Trident Ltd in the state’s Barnala district, recommended an in-depth study of the environmental audit to be undertaken, particularly in respect of the captive power plant and towel division, to assess the status for compliance of environment norms.

M/s Trident Ltd should gradually reduce water consumption and effluent generation. The entire treated effluent has to be properly utilised on land for plantation and irrigation purposes, the report said.

Waste management in Chandigarh

A monitoring committee report under the chairmanship of Justice Pritam Pal on the issue of solid waste management in Chandigarh was uploaded to the NGT site on June 22.

One of the issues that the committee dealt with was the 25,000 tonnes of old, unprocessed, solid waste material, occupying considerable space in the solid waste processing plant of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation.

The committee recommended removal of the waste material by the corporation and delivery of segregated solid waste to the plant.

The corporation should start 100 per cent door-to-door collection and segregation of solid waste. It was also recommended that the corporation should construct adequate number of compost pits to process 100 per cent wet waste of the city and also the horticulture waste.

Air pollution in Shakurbasti 

In compliance to the NGT order of January 10, 2020, a report was filed by the Central Railside Warehouse Company (CRWC) on steps taken to mitigate air pollution due to the loading /unloading of cement near Shakurbasti Railway Station, Delhi.

The report informed the tribunal that CRWC had got warehouses covered to protect from cement dust emission. It had taken steps to prevent the air pollution and control the fugitive dust emission.

It had also deployed a part-time physician to check the health of the workers. Plantation was also done at the terminal to control the dust in the environment.

Kithiganahalli lake pollution

The Government of Karnataka and the Bommasandra Town Municipal Council were directed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on June 19, 2020, to pay an interim compensation of Rs 15 lakh due to inaction on their part to stop pollution in the Kithiganahalli lake at Bommasandra.

Bommasandra is just south of state capital Bengaluru. There is a cluster of industries and enterprises at Bommasandra, just south of state capital Bengaluru by National Highway 48.

A report filed by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board acknowledged the damage to the lake by unregulated discharge of sewage by the municipal council through open drains. Sewage was also flowing from the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board.

Further remedial action was to be taken expeditiously by the administration and discharge of any pollutant in the water body was to be stopped forthwith, the NGT order said.  

Subscribe to Daily Newsletter :

SUPPORT US

We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.