Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal
Environmental carrying capacity of Tamnar and Gharghoda
A 32-page preliminary investigation report into the environmental carrying capacity for polluting projects and allied issues in Tamnar and Gharghoda blocks of Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh was made public on Februry 26, 2020, on the National Green Tribunal (NGT) website. The report was in response to the NGT order of July 22, 2019, in the matter of Shivpal Bhagat & Others Vs Union of India & Others (OA 104 of 2018).
The report mentioned that the overall generation of fly ash in Raigarh district (the bulk of which comes from 12 power plants) came to arouund 6,628,283 TPA. Of this, around 97 per cent was reported as being utilised. Utilisation by way of backfilling to mine was 24 per cent, use in low-lying areas was 27 per cent, and that in brick manufacturing was only five per cent.
Major environmental impacts included air pollution due to coal mining, comprising fly ash backfilling, thermal power plants, coal washeries, sponge iron and steel plants and road transport of coal. Water pollution, soil pollution, groundwater depletion, deforestation, displacement and risk to life due to blasting are other environmental impacts.
The report also suggested short-term and long-term mesures to combat the problem including no further conversion of underground mines to open cast mines in Tamnar and Gharghoda. The joint committee was of the opinion that the Tamnar-Gharghoda block region was close to exceeding its environmental carrying capacity.
Unauthorised constructions in Anangpur village
An action taken report filed by the divisional forest officer of Faridabad, Haryana, regarding the restoration of areas damaged due to unauthorised constructions in Anangpur village's Khasra no. 920, 1381 and 1383 was uploaded for the public on February 26, 2020.
The total damaged area due to unauthorised constructions was 0.5271 hectares. Compensatory afforestation would be undertaken in an area 10 times this size, ie 5.271 hectares. A sum of Rs. 60.46 lakh has been allocated for compensatory afforestation with 10 years of maintenance.
These were some of the facts mentioned in the report. Further, unauthorised constructions have been demolished. Around 527 ‘pahari papri’ (Holoptelia integrefolia) seedlings have been planted.
Solid waste dumping
On February 25, 2020, Uttar Pradesh's department of urban development filed an action taken report in the original application No. 209/2019 regarding the unscientific management and dumping of solid waste in Ghaziabad district's Loni Nagar Palika Parishad.
The dumping site in Ahmad Nagar Navada, that was earlier used by the Nagar Palika Parishad for disposing waste, was no longer used and no fresh waste was being dumped on the site, the report said.
The Nagar Palika Parishad has been directed to prepare and execute a plant for scientific treatment of the legacy waste accumulated at the site over the years according to the Central Pollution Control Board guidelines of March 2019.
Further, the government of Uttar Pradesh has sanctioned a Rs 5.31 crore-fund for the development of a scientific landfill site and processing facility to be used by the Nagar Palika. Also, the application for authorisatiion for developing a processing site at Meerpur Hindu was still pending due to protests by the local populace and the authorities have been asked to resolve the issue, the report said.
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