Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal
The Delhi High Court (HC) November 6, 2023 directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Delhi Fire Services to ensure scrupulous and rigorous enforcement of the fire norms in the national capital’s Azad market. Premises at risk of fire as specified under Rule 27 of the Delhi Fire Rules will be under scanner, it said.
The HC also directed MCD to regularly monitor the market to ensure that people found violating the fire norms are promptly identified and referred to the Fire Prevention Wing under Rule 34 of the Delhi Fire Rules.
Furthermore, in the future, if stray cases of unauthorised and illegal construction are found dotting the area, the petitioner Azad Market Residents Welfare Association can approach the Special Task Force constituted by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the HC stated.
The court was hearing the matter related to unauthorised and illegal construction in the market.
The HC was of the opinion that the grievance issued by the petitioner has been sufficiently addressed by the MCD “through the considerable efforts it has made in relation to clearing unauthorised and illegal construction”. However, potential violations of fire norms need to be addressed, it emphasised.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) November 2, 2023 directed the Kerala government and the Kerala State Pollution Control Board to file a report on the repeated instances of fire breaking out in the Kozhikode waste treatment plant. The report must be filed within a period of four weeks before the southern zone bench, Chennai.
The application was registered by NGT suo motu on the basis of a news article, Fire in Kozhikode waste treatment plant: Opposition alleges corporation’s conspiracy, published in news portal Onmanorama on October 9, 2023. A fire broke out around 9.30 am in a waste treatment plant at West Hill, Kozhikode and necessitated the deployment of 10 fire units, the article stated.
Toxic fumes from the plant choked the area and people complained of health issues due to the smell of burning plastic hanging in the air. Such fire accidents are very common at Kozhikode Corporation, the news article stated. It also alleged a conspiracy behind the fire accident in the waste treatment plant at West Hill.
Non-biodegradable waste items like plastic collected by the corporation staff from public places are stored in this plant and a private firm is in charge of the operation of the plant, the news report stated.
The NGT November 3, 2023 directed the chief secretaries of the states where the cities air quality index (AQI) has dipped to ‘severe’, ‘very poor’ and ‘poor’ categories to take immediate action and submit an action taken report before the next date of hearing, November 10, 2023.
The tribunal directed a notice to be issued to the chief secretaries of these states / Union territories; chairman, Commission for Air Quality Management; member secretary, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB); National Task Force through its head secretary and the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
The application was registered suo motu on the basis of the air quality bulletins posted by the CPCB on their website from October 20 to November 1, 2023. The said reports showed the AQI for several cities had dipped to ‘very poor’ and even ‘severe’ categories.
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