Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal
Only green crackers bearing QR codes should be sold in West Bengal, directed the Calcutta High Court. A division bench of the court was responding to a public interest litigation October 11, 2022.
Only green crackers with QR codes should be sold at bazi bazar (firecracker market), proposed to be held in Kolkata from October 18, it added.
The West Bengal Pollution Control Board and the commissioner of police, Kolkata, should deploy enough personnel in the bazi bazar to ensure the implementation of the court’s directions, the order stated.
The representatives of the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation and National Environmental Engineering Research Institute should assist the pollution control board and police, the court added.
The petitioner’s advocate said West Bengal had flagrantly disregarded earlier orders from the Supreme Court that called for a ban on selling firecrackers in the state. This has led to extreme noise and air pollution in Kolkata and other regions of the state, the petitioner added.
Roha Industrial Association’s common effluent treatment plant (CETP) in Maharashtra’s Dhatav village has been upgraded to meet the requisite standards, stated a joint committee report submitted before the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
Roha Industrial Area is a chemical zone as declared by Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation. It is located in the Raigad district, 120 kilometres away from Mumbai.
Aryavart Foundation, a non-profit, had filed an application before the NGT against the violation of environmental norms by the Roha Industrial Association.
Following this, the tribunal directed the formation of a joint committee. The committee, along with the officials from the pollution control boards, inspected the site September 2. The committee informed that the up-gradation and rehabilitation of the CETP were in progress during the visit.
The CETP was operational with an equalisation tank, flash mixer, one primary clarifier and one aeration with a secondary clarifier, the report added.
Patla Cheruvu lake has dried up due to an artificial bund constructed on the same, said an application filed by Human Rights and Consumer Protection Cell Trust before the NGT.
The lake is located in Patelguda village in the Sangareddy district of Telangana. The lake continues to face the challenges of encroachments and illegal constructions, it stated. The applicant has also included photographs substantiating their claims.
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