Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal
Industrial pollution
The National Green Tribunal (NGT0 on May 14, 2020, directed that a fresh report be submitted by a joint committee comprising of the Central Pollution Control Board, Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board about the pollution caused by M / s Metallic Alloys at Industrial Growth Centre in Chhattisgarh's Raipur.
Two reports filed earlier had stated that coke was not being used to operate the furnace. Moreover, since the unit had been set up before September 14, 2006, environmental clearance (EC) was not necessary.
The reports made other points as well. The unit was not found to be operational as it had been shut down for maintenance. The furnace was operated by electricity. Bag filters had been installed with the heat exchanger to control pollution. The height of the chimney was 30 metres.
However, the applicant informed the tribunal that EC was required, as consent to establish was granted in the year 2011 and the unit was set up thereafter and not earlier, as mentioned in the two reports.
It was also stated that pollution was being caused by the unit and requisite safeguards such as plantations etc did not exist. There was illegal withdrawal of ground water as well.
Pawa Pine canal
A report about the illegal encroachment and water pollution of the Pawa Pine canal at Pokharpur village in Bihar's Nalanda district due to the operation of a hotel and rice mill was uploaded on the NGT website on May 13.
During inspection, it was found that the hotel was constructed on the bank of the Pawa Pine canal. The effluent treatment plant of the rice mill was found to be non-functional.
The paddy husk generated from the unit was also stored in an open space and most of the conditions imposed in the Consent to Operate (CTO) issued by the Bihar State Pollution Control Board were not being compiled with.
The proprietor of the Pawapuri Rice Mill had applied for CTO under the Water Act, 1974 and Air Act, 1981, that had expired on December 31, 2018.
Drain encroachment
A joint committee comprising the Bhopal Municipal Corporation and Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board, filed an action-taken report in pursuance of an NGT order of September 16, 2019, about the encroachment of the local sewage drain at Kolua Kalan in Bhopal by a resident.
It was a clear case of drain encroachment by the complainant (Hradesh Kirar) himself, as he had filled it intermittently and claimed to be the occupier of the encroached land, the report, uploaded on the NGT website on May 14, said.
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