Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal
Fined for storing hazardous waste
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on July 19, 2019 rejected the appeal of Grasim Industries Ltd against its August 28, 2018 order asking the firm to shift mercury from its factory in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra district to a treatment storage and disposal facility immediately.
It also ordered the company to pay an interim fine of Rs 1 crore for illegal storage of hazardous waste and damage it caused to the environment till the final compensation is assessed by a joint committee. The committee will include representatives from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Central Pollution Control Board and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
Illegal structures on Goa beaches
The NGT on July 18, 2019 ordered the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) to take action against all 241 illegal structures on Goa’s Morjem, Mandre, Galgibag and Agonda beaches constructed in no development zone and without obtaining permissions.
This order came after a three-member committee appointed to verify whether the illegal structures were removed filed a report in the tribunal. Altogether 241 structures had been identified as illegal and of these, 74 have been referred to the district-level committee for inspection, according to the report.
Dumping waste on Delhi roads
The tribunal on July 19, 2019 asked the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, South Delhi Municipal Corporation and East Delhi Municipal Corporation to submit factual and action taken reports on unscientific dumping of garbage on roads in a month.
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