Waste

Daily Court Digest: Major environment orders (May 20, 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: Wednesday 20 May 2020
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COVID-19 waste

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on May 18, 2020 directed West Bengal’s chief secretary to look into the alleged, indisciminate dumping of biomedical waste generated by the home quarantining of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients in open dumping ground across the state. 

The NGT asked the chief secretary to take “tangible and urgent steps to implement the Central Pollution Control Board guidelines on COVID-19 waste” along with the concerned departments and the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) and submit a report.

The tribunal also directed the SPCB to file a separate report dealing with the implementation of the guidelines, giving specific information on the manner in which COVID-19 waste was being disposed of. Both the reports have to be be submitted by July 8.

Eating joints  

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has detailed a number of measures taken by it along with the South Delhi Municipal Corporation to see to it eating joints in Delhi’s Satya Niketan area don’t cause environmental pollution, according to a report submitted by it on May 19.

An inspection was carried out by joint teams of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation and DPCC in the months of February and March 2020 in the area.

The teams inspected 76 eating joints, out of which, 23 were issued directions for closure under Section 33 (A) of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Section 31 (A) of Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 including disconnection of electricity and water supply.

These eating joints were operating without valid consent to operate and were also found non-compliant with respect to environmental norms during inspection.

Twenty-two eating points were found to be very small, with a seating capacity of less than 10 and some of them were only takeaway joints. These tiny units were advised to obtain consent before resuming their operations.

Apart from this, show cause notices were issued to 45 eating joints “to show cause as to why environmental compensation should not be imposed for operating without consent and causing pollution.”

Another 16 eating points were found to be operating with consent and 15 were found sealed / closed / under renovation. These 15 joints would be inspected after two months to ascertain their operational status, the DPCC report added.

Polluting industry

The Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) filed its report on the alleged environmental non-compliance by M / s Malik Beverage based at Malik Tola, Sagdi, Azamgarh.

The unit had obtained a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from UPPCB on December 20, 2017. However, it did not obtain a valid consent to operate from the UPPCB.

The unit had also did not install a facility to treat effluents generated from Reverse Osmosis plant. The quanity of effluent was approximately 4 kilo litres. The unit had also not obtained the NOC from the Central Ground Water Control Authority for drawing of groundwater.

It was quite clear that the unit was violating conditions mentioned in the NOC issued by the UPPCB, the report said.

“That on the basis of the inspection report of UPPCB, Regional Office, Azamgarh and the violation of NOC conditions, a show cause notice had been issued u / s 33A of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 against industry M / s Malik Beverage, Malik Tola, Sagdi, Azamgarh dated 06.01.2020,” it added.

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