National Green Tribunal
Ravi Shankar Mandal vs Ministry Of Environment Forest And ... on 24 September, 2021
Item No. 03 Court No.1
BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL
EASTERN ZONE BENCH, KOLKATA
(Through Video Conferencing)
Original Application No. 19/2021/EZ
Ravi Shankar Mandal Applicant(s)
Versus
Union of India & Ors. Respondent(s)
Date of hearing: 24.09.2021
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE B. AMIT STHALEKAR, JUDICIAL MEMBER
HON'BLE MR. SAIBAL DASGUPTA, EXPERT MEMBER
For Applicant(s) : Mr. Sanjay Upadhyay, Advocate
For Respondent(s): Mr. Debasish Ghosh, Advocate for R-1,
Mr. Sibojyoti Chakraborty, Advocate for R-3,
Ms. Amrita Pandey, Advocate for R-4 & 6,
ORDER
1. Mr. Sanjay Upadhyay, learned Counsel is present for the Applicant.
2. Mr. Debasish Ghosh, learned Counsel is present for Respondent No.1, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Mr. Sibojyoti Chakraborty, learned Counsel is present for Respondent No.3, Central Pollution Control Board, and Ms. Amrita Pandey, learned Counsel is present for Respondent Nos. 4 & 6, State Respondents, Govt. of Jharkhand.
3. An adjournment has been sought by Mr. Surendra Kumar, learned Counsel for the Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board.
4. One affidavit dated 02.08.2021 has been filed on behalf of the Respondent No.3, Central Pollution Control Board. The same is taken on record.
5. Three affidavits dated 04.08.2021, 19.08.2021 and 22.09.2021 have been filed on behalf of the Respondent No.5, Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board. The same are taken on record. 1
6. In the affidavit dated 04.08.2021, it has been stated that the Consent to Establish and Consent to Operate was granted to M/s Dumka Goods Shed by the Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board on 13.10.2019. The same Consent to Operate was again renewed upto 31.12.2021 for loading and unloading of mineral goods. Thereafter, after the order of the National Green Tribunal dated 07.06.2021, the unit of M/s Dumka Goods Shed was inspected by a team of officers from the Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board. The observations of the Inspection Committee have been given in paragraph 5 of the affidavit which are reproduced herein below:-
"5. That, it is humbly stated and submitted that in light of the directions issued by Hon'ble NGT order dated 07.06.2021 Dumka Goods Shed was inspected by a team of officers from the JSPCB Regional Office, Dumka and during the inspection Mr. Akhilesh Ojha, Goods Shed Superintendent (GSS) (Railway) was present. During inspection, following observations were found:-
(i) Dumka Goods Shed is located at Latitude: 24º 17΄ 23¨ N & Longitude: 87 º15 ΄26¨ E.
(ii) Goods shed was non-operational at the time of inspection.
(iii) At the time of inspection against CTO application, as a mineral, Goods Shed was storing & transporting only stone Chips which comes under minor mineral. But now they are expanding their work for storage & transportations of coal which comes under major minerals for which fresh CTE/CTO required along with effective pollution control measures.
(iv) A new railway track was also being constructed in the Dumka Goods Shed which is started from 13th March, 2021 as informed by Shri Akhilesh Ojha, G.S.S. Dumka.
(v) The Ariel distance of the following sensitive locations from the battery point of the Dumka Goods She is as follow:-2
Sl. Sensitive Distance criteria Distance No. Points as per Board's from Notification no. Battery B-15 dated Point (as 18/10/2017 per present status) 1 St. Xavier's School No siting criteria 48 meters 2 10+2 Western for green 64 meters English School categories of 3 A.N. College industries. Beyond 100 more than meters 100 meters 4 State Highway-18 Beyond 100 (Govindpur- meters Sahibganj) 5 Hospitals Beyond 100 meters 6 Rajkiya Beyond 100 Polytechnic meters College Dumka 7 Dumka Beyond 100 Engineering meters college 8 St. Johns School Beyond 100 meters 9 Habitation (above Within 100 800 nos. of meters dwellers/ 160 no. (About 6 of houses) built house and 15 under construction) 10 Bethel Mission Beyond 100 School meters
7. In the said affidavit, it is also stated that the Railway Goods Shed is under construction for purposes of expanding their work for storage and transportation of coal which comes under major minerals for which fresh Consent to Establish and Consent to Operate is required to be obtained from the Board. Since the Consent to Establish and Consent to Operate has so far not been obtained by M/s Dumka Goods Shed, the Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board has issued directions to the Goods Shed Superintendent, Dumka Railway Station, to stop all on-going construction activities related to the expansion with immediate effect and to move an application to the Board for obtaining the requisite Consent to Establish and Consent to Operate certificates. 3
8. In the second affidavit dated 19.08.2021 which has been filed by the Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board, it is stated that the Regional Officer, Dumka along with his team again re-inspected the site on 07.08.2021 to verify the status regarding compliance. The observations mentioned in paragraph 8 of the affidavit are reproduced herein under:-
"8. Para 4, 6 & 12: That, it is humbly stated and submitted that the Regional Officer, Dumka along with his team has again re-inspected the site on 07.08.2021 to verify the status of compliances in light of the CTO granted by the Board and the observations are as follows:-
(i) The expansion work was found under progress at the time of inspection.
(ii) No pucca road has been constructed within the unit premises for movement of trucks.
(iii) The unit has not installed water sprinkler for wetting of ground.
(iv) No facilities have been provided to stop flow of water from the siding to nearby lands during rainy season.
(v) The house keeping of Railway siding was found not satisfactory.
(vi) The unit has constructed the boundary wall in discontinuation/irregular way.
(vii) The unit has carried out tree plantation but has been found to be inadequate."
9. Thereafter, a second show cause notice was issued on 10.08.2021 by the Regional Officer, Dumka to the Goods Shed Superintendent, Dumka Railway Station, to stop all on-going construction activities relating to the expansion with immediate effect and the unit was also put to notice as to why a closure order be not issued against the unit for non-compliance of the previous directions. 4
10. In view of the above fact situation, we direct that the expansion activities of M/s Dumka Goods Shed at the Dumka Railway shall remain stayed till further orders of the Tribunal.
11. The Respondent No.5, Jharkhand State Pollution Board, shall ensure compliance of our order with the assistance of the local police in case the M/s Dumka Goods Shed, Dumka Railway Station is continuing its operations.
12. In the third affidavit filed by the Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board dated 22.09.2021, the Board has prayed for further six weeks time to file the current status report.
13. Time as prayed for is granted. Let such affidavit be filed within six weeks after serving e-copy/soft copy of the same upon the learned Counsel for the Applicant as well as the learned Counsel for the other Respondents at least one week before the next date fixed.
14. List on 24.11.2021.
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B. Amit Sthalekar, JM ...................................
Saibal Dasgupta, EM September 24, 2021 Original Application No. 19/2021/EZ AK 5