Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the municipal commissioner of Bidhannagar (in West Bengal) to identify the officer responsible for permitting a dumpsite in Ward 18 of the corporation.
On September 20, 2023, the tribunal ordered the commissioner to take action against the officer within one month.
The NGT asked the municipal corporation to restrict the operations of dumpsites not complying with Municipal Waste Management Rules, 2016. Moreover, actions should be taken against residents who throw garbage on the road.
The state urban development and municipal affairs department had submitted an affidavit on the matter on September 18.
The department said garbage has been removed from the site. Colour-coded bins have been placed to collect the segregated waste from the adjoining households.
The dumpsite near Kestopur Nazrul Park has been cleaned thoroughly and dressed with a sand bed, the affidavit added.
The NGT directed the Maharashtra Water Resources Department to finish marking the blue and red flood lines in Dhule, Nandurbar and Jalgaon districts within four months.
In its report to the NGT, the department said demarcation in the Akola district — through which rivers Morna and Vidrupa flow — is in progress and would be completed by September 2023.
Given the flash floods, cloud bursts and heavy rainfall that occurred in these districts in recent years, the procedures for marking the blue and red flood lines in these three districts have been initiated.
While blue flood lines mark the flood level that occurs every 25 years, red flood lines mark the flood level that occurs every 100 years.
The NGT directed a four-member committee to look into the allegations of stone mining and stone crushing in the eco-sensitive zones of Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, Darjeeling district, West Bengal.
The tribunal, on September 20, 2023, asked the committee to visit the site and submit its report within three weeks. If violations are found, the committee should recommend penalties, environmental compensation and remedial measures.
The NGT also asked the committee to issue notices to the government of West Bengal, the Central Pollution Control Board, the district magistrate of Jalpaiguri, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and the industries undertaking mining.
The tribunal was responding to a petition that alleged stone crushing units to have caused severe air pollution in the area.
The stone crushers have been using machines such as jaw crushers, roller crushers, cone crushers and impactors, which create an immense amount of dust. It was further stated that the stone chips are thereafter transported through heavy vehicles, which causes fugitive dust emissions, the petitioner added.
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