Allahabad High Court
Mehndi Hasan vs State Of U.P. Thru. Prin . Secy. Deptt. ... on 18 October, 2019
Bench: Pankaj Kumar Jaiswal, Irshad Ali
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD, LUCKNOW BENCH Court No. - 1 Case :- MISC. BENCH No. - 28062 of 2019 Petitioner :- Mehndi Hasan Respondent :- State Of U.P. Thru. Prin . Secy. Deptt. Animal Husbandry&Ors Counsel for Petitioner :- Rayees Ahmad Khan Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,Ashok Kumar Verma Hon'ble Pankaj Kumar Jaiswal,J.
Hon'ble Irshad Ali,J.
(1) Heard Sri Rayees Ahmad Khan, learned counsel for the petitioner, Sri S.S. Chauhan, learned Additional Chief Standing Counsel for respondent nos. 1 to 4 and Sri Ashok Kumar Verma, learned counsel for respondent no.5.
(2) By this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner is praying for following reliefs :-
"i. issue a writ, order and direction in the nature of Mandamus commanding the opposite party no.2 to 5 to restrain the opposite party no.6 for opening Poultry farm near residential area which is prohibited in the Rules and regulations of Environment Guideline and take an action against opposite party no.6 according to law.
ii. Issue any other writ, order or direction in the nature and manner which this Hon'ble Court deems fit and proper in the circumstances of the case.
iii. Allow the writ petition with costs in favour of the petitioner and against the opposite parties."
(3) Learned counsel for the petitioner has drawn our attention to guideline no. 4.0 (Location/siting) of the Environmental Guideline on Poultry Rearing below 500 Heads, issued by the Department of Environment contained in Annexure no.1 to the writ petition and has submitted that the site shall be located at least 200 metre away from settlement boundaries; sensitive land uses (schools, dispensaries, hospitals); any domestic borehole and slaughter house but the respondent no.6 is not complying any guideline and without any Biosecurity measures, adamant to open Poultry Farm and avoiding the interest of the villagers. The aforesaid Guideline No. 4.0 is reproduced as under :
"4.0 Location/ Siting
(i) The site shall be located at least 200 m away from settlement boundaries; sensitive land uses (schools, dispensaries, hospitals); any domestic borehole and slaughter house.
(ii) The site shall be located on agricultural land and outside irrigation zones.
(iii) In view of biosecurity risks (spread of diseases), the distance allowed between two poultry farms of up to 5000 birds shall be 100 m. Where a poultry farm of 5000 to 20000 birds is already existing, the buffer distance shall be 200 m. In the case of the presence of an existing poultry farm of more than 20000 birds, the buffer distance from the proposed poultry farm shall be 300 m.
(iv) Poultry farms should not be located within any Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) and its prescribed buffer zone as per ESA Study 2009 such as wetland, steep slope and in areas that are likely to be affected by hazards such as inland flooding, landslide and storm surges, amongst others.
(v) On site wastewater disposal facility such as septic tanks and absorption pits/leaching fields to be located not less than 30 m from any water course as per Rivers and Canals Act 1863.
(vi) Existing natural drains and watercourses on or in the vicinity of the site shall not be tampered with."
(4) Sri Ashok Kumar Verma, learned counsel for the respondent no.7 has submitted that on 19th July, 2017, clarification in the matter of Revised Categorization of the Industrial Sector, namely, "Polutry, Hatchery and Piggery" and dealing new category of industry for classification and review of existing category, has been examined and clarifications i.e. (1) Poultry farms less than one lakh birds need not to obtain Consent to Operate, as per CPCB Guidelines circulated vide letter no. B-4032/PCI-SSI/poultry/2015 dated 20.10.2015; (2) the poultry farms which are handling one lakh or more birds at a given time in single location need to approach State Pollution Control Board to obtain necessary Consent to Operate under the Water Act, 1974; and (3) Environmental Guidelines for Poultry Farm including minimization of odour pollution, management of solid waste, management of waste water discharge, good housekeeping practices is applicable to all poultry farm irrespective of no. of birds., have been issued.
(5) Sri Verma has also drawn our attention to the enquiry report dated 6.7.2019, which is at page No. 21 of the writ petition, and has submitted that there is no violation of any provisions and now there is no bar for opening poultry farms less than one lakh birds. However, he submits that if there is any complaint, the matter is to be examined on the basis of the guidelines issued by the Central Board of Pollution from time to time. The enquiry report dated 6.7.2019 reads as under :-
" tkWp vk[;k
miftykf/kdkjh vkykiqj dks fn;s x;s f'kdk;rh i= fnukad 05&07&2019 ds lUnHkZ esa v?kksgLrk{kjh }kjk [email protected]/khu eqxhZ QkeZ dk fnukad 06&07&2019 dks fujh{k.k fd;k x;kA tkap esa fuEufyf[kr fcUnqvksa ij vk[;k miftykf/kdkjh egksn; dks izsf"kr gSA
1& Jh uoh vgen iq= cuokjh xzke frydV.Mk }kjk cuok;s tk jgs eqxhZ QkeZ esa yxHkx 2000&3000 i{kh j[ks tk ldrs gSA 2& i'kqikyu foHkkx m0 iz0 esa izfrekfnr fu;ekuqlkj 10000 i{kh ;k mlls vf/kd {kerk dk iksYVz~h QkeZ [kksyus ds fy, QkeZ dks vkcknh ls 500 eh0 ;k mlls vf/kd dh nwjh ij gksuk pkfg,A ijUrq 2000&3000 cMZ dh {kerk ds iksYVz~h QkeZ dks [kksyus ds fy, dksbZ Li"V funsZ'k ugh gSA 3& iksYVz~h QkeZ Lojkstxkj ,oa thou;kiu dk ,d tfj;k gS ftlls jkstxkjdrkZ LokoyEch cu tkrk gSA 4&;fn iksYVz~h QkeZ ekfyd }kjk leLr Biosecurity measures dk ikyu fd;k tk;sxk rks fcekjh ,oa iznw"k.k QSyus dh lEHkkouk vR;Ur {kh.k jgsxhA vr% ;fn eqxhZ leLr Biosecurity measures dk ikyu djsxk rk iksYVz~h QkeZ mijksDr lUnHkZ esa [kksyk tk ldrk gSA mijksDr fcUnqvks ds vk/kkj ij f'kdk;r fuLrkfjr dh tkrh gSA"
(6) As per modified directions issued by Central Pollution Control Board on 19.7.2017, no need to obtain consent to operate poultry farm if the birds are less than one lakh at a given time in a single location.
(7) Considering the aforesaid, respondent no.1-Principal Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, Lucknow, is directed to issue appropriate directions to the Regional/District Level Officer to examine the matter in the light of the present policy, which is in existence if any permission/consent to operate poultry farm in the matter is required.
(8) With the aforesaid observations and directions, the writ petition stands disposed of.
Order Date :- 18.10.2019 Ajit/-