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 that a notice be issued to the chief engineer and executing engineer, Faridabad Thermal Power Station, a unit of Haryana Power Generation Corp Ltd.
The notice was issued on the basis of a joint committee report about fly ash lying at a site in the Aravalli range even after closure of the power plant in Bata Chowk, Faridabad.
This is a violation of Aravalli Notification issued on May 7, 1992, by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, restricting certain activities in specified areas of the Aravallis.
A joint inspection report on July 31, 2023, said there were two ash dykes at the site. One of them, covering 103 acres, got filled with ash in 1987. It is currently covered with vegetation after deposition of soil.
The second ash dyke spans 152 acres. Lifting of ash is in progress from this dyke. No lifting of ash took place between 2018 and 2022. Work has now been been awarded to two agencies. Till June 30, 2023, approximately 8 lakh MT fly ash was lifted and approximately 10 lakh is yet to be lifted.
The counsel for the Haryana State Pollution Control Board informed the court that the remaining ash in the second dyke will be lifted by June 21, 2026.
The NGT September 25 said there is no proper mechanism to check illegal quarrying and excess sand mining in Vidisha district, Madhya Pradesh. The authorities are “conducting mining activities in collusion with the mining mafia and looting the natural wealth,” said the NGT.
The court directed a four-member committee to visit the place, look into grievances and submit a report.
The tribunal passed the order taking into consideration a report published in the Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar.
The NGT said the media report raised substantial questions relating to the environment. It also directed that notice be issued to the state of Madhya Pradesh; Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board; Collector, Vidisha and Director (mining), Madhya Pradesh.
The news report said despite repeated direction issued by the Supreme Court of India and the NGT, the district administration of Vidisha had failed to control illegal mining in the villages of Udaipur, Pathari, Ghatera, Pathari and Noorpur, situated 120 kilometres from Bhopal.
A joint committee was formed on the orders of the NGT on September 25 to look into alleged environmental violations committed by the Rukmani power plant in Ranisagar village. The village is located in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh.
The joint committee comprising the Secretary, Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board and the District Magistrate, Raigarh will carry out a spot inspection and ascertain the truthfulness of the allegations, especially compliance with environmental clearance / consent condition, corporate social responsibility activities, green belt development and use of approved fuel.
The committee has been directed to submit the action-taken report within eight weeks before the NGT’s Central Zonal Bench, Bhopal.
The applicant in his petition said the plant, which is biomass-based, is illegally using coal and ash is being dumped haphazardly in nearby agricultural fields.
The application also alleged that the power plant is using 270 MT coal per day and it stops ESP (electrostatic precipitator) at night, as a result of which huge quantities of PM10 and PM 2.5 particulate matter spread in the nearby villages and forest.
The plant is using groundwater in huge quantities (700 cubic metres per day) without permission of the water resources department and smoke from the plant is affecting wildlife and biodiversity.
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