Environment

Daily Court Digest: Major environment orders (July 2, 2020)

Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal

 
By DTE Staff
Published: Thursday 02 July 2020
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Illegal mining in Mahendragarh

An action taken report was filed by the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) in compliance to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order of March 6, 2020 on the matter of illegal mining by M / s Haryana Mining Company at Garhi village in Mahendragarh district.

The mining was in violation of the Indian Forest Act 1927, the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act 1981, the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act 1974 and the Environment (Protection) Act 1986.

The area in question was inspected on June 16, 2020 by a joint committee and it was found that the operation of M / s Haryana Mining Co, Garhi, was closed and no mining activity was observed at the site.

The lease of the Haryana Mining Co had been terminated on January 10, 2020 due to illegal mining beyond the allotted area of the lease and non-deposition of royalty. Hence, their security, which was deposited at the time of obtaining lease agreement, had been forfeited.

The forest department also informed that the said lease holder destroyed 597 plants / trees during execution of illegal mining activities in Garhi village on June 18, 2016 and a damage report was issued against the miner and action taken against him in the Special Environment Court, Faridabad.

The court also ordered him to pay a sum of Rs 1,21,788 as compensation, which was paid in court.

Stone crushers in Satna

Those operating polluting stone crushers in the Tilora village of Satna district in Madhya Pradesh would have to pay the compensation amount fixed by the joint committee comprising of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (MPPCB) before they can operate, the NGT said in its order of July 1. The units should also be environmentally compliant.

The order came in the wake of the report filed on March 11 by the committee which assessed the damage to the environment due to illegal operation of the stone crushers.

The report took into account the damage to the air quality, health issues and the agricultural production loss and made calculations based on the mechanism developed by CPCB for the assessment of the damage to air quality, health and agriculture. 

An action taken report was also filed by the MPPCB on April 27 which assessed the compensation against individual stone crushers for violation of environmental norms from February 19, 2018 to March 31, 2019. Some of the defaulting stone crushers had made the deposit, the remaining had not yet made the deposit, the NGT was informed.

Rice mill in Udhamsingh Nagar 

The NGT on July 1 expressed satisfaction at the action taken by the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board against the polluting rice mill, operated by M / s Bansal Industries in Danpur village in Udhamsingh Nagar district of the state.

A report filed by the state pollution control board had stated that the unit was found to be non-compliant earlier and thus order of closure was passed in March 7, 2019.

Thereafter, the unit was allowed to resume operations for 90 days and environmental compensation was also assessed. The unit then took remedial measures and paid the compensation. It was now compliant.

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