National Green Tribunal
C.Ramu vs The District Collector on 11 May, 2022
Author: Satyagopal Korlapati
Bench: Satyagopal Korlapati
BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL
SOUTHERN ZONE, CHENNAI
Original Application No.103 of 2021 (SZ)
&
Original Application No.120 of 2021 (SZ)
(Through Video Conference)
IN THE MATTER OF:
1. C. Ramu,
13, Devampattu Village & Post,
Ponneri Taluk,
Tiruvallur District
2. S. Srinivasan,
S/o Subiramaniyan
No. 11-14, Devampattu,
Uppunelvoyal,
Tiruvallur- 601 201
....Applicant(s)
Versus
1. The District Collector,
Collectorate
Tiruvallur- 602 001
2. The Assistant Director & Fisheries,
O/o. AD Fisheries,
No. 11, T.H. Road, Ponneri
Thiruvallur- 601 204
3. Assistant Director of Agriculture,
Minjur, Thiruvallur,
4. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board,
Rep by its Chairman,
No. 76, Annasalai, Guindy,
Chennai- 600 032
5. The District Environmental Engineer,
Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board,
77-A South Avenue Road,
Ambattur Industrial Estate,
Ambattur Taluk, Tiruvallur District
6. The Block Development Officer,
Minjur
7. The Revenue Divisional Officer,
Ponneri, Tiruvallur District,
8. The Tahsildar,
Ponneri Taluk,
Tiruvallur District.
[1]
...Respondent(s)
With
Tribunal on its own motion
Suo Motu based on the news item published in
Dinamalar Tamil e- Edition, dated 26.04.2021,
Under the caption "Crisp colored fish farms are
accused of affecting groundwater"
Versus
1. The Secretary to Govt. of Tamil Nadu,
Department of Environment & Forests,
Govt. Secretariat, Fort St. George,
Chennai, Tamil Nadu- 600009.
2. The Chairman,
Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board,
No. 76, Annai Salai, Guindy,
Chennai, Tamil Nadu- 600032
3. Department of Fisheries,
Rep by its Commissioner,
3rd Floor, Integrated Animal Husbandry
And Fisheries Building, Nandanam,
Chennai- 600035.
4. The District Collector,
Tiruvallur District,
First Floor, Collectorate,
Tiruvallur- 602 001
5. State Ground and Surface Water Resources Data Centre,
Rep by its Chief Engineer,
Taramani, Chennai- 600113
6. Central Ground Water Board,
Rep by its Regional Director,
E-wing, G-Block, Rajaji Bhavan,
CGO Complex Besant Nagar,
Chennai- 600090
...Respondent(s)
O.A.103 of 2021
For Applicant(s): Mr. K.S.Viswanathan
For Respondent(s): Dr. D. Shanmughanathan for R1 to R3, R6 to R8
Mr. Sai Sathya Jith for R4 and R5
O.A.120 of 2021
For Applicant(s): Suo Motu
For Respondent(s): Dr. D. Shanmughanathan for R1, R3 to R5
Mr. Sai Sathya Jith for R2
Judgment Reserved on: 27th April, 2022
Judgment Pronounced on: 11th May, 2022
[2]
CORAM:
HON'BLE SMT. JUSTICE PUSHPA SATHYANARAYANA, JUDICIAL MEMBER
HON'BLE DR. SATYAGOPAL KORLAPATI, EXPERT MEMBER
JUDGMENT
Delivered by Justice Smt. Pushpa Sathyanarayana, Judicial Member O.A. No. 103 of 2021
1. Aggrieved by the fish ponds and hatcheries which are established over and adjacent to the agricultural lands in Devampattu, Agaram, Uppunelvayal and Periyakarumbur Villages in Ponneri Taluk, Tiruvallur District, the applicants have moved this Tribunal to take necessary action to restore the lands back to agricultural use.
2. The grievance of the applicants is that the lands are fed by tanks, lakes and other traditional water sources in the area. The business of shrimp farming and ornamental fish started in the year 2009. For the said purpose, artificial ponds are made on plots of land surrounded by raised mud walls. Small channels are made from the river to these ponds, where chemicals/medicines are added to prevent any diseases to the fish. The Peria Karumbur Esa Lake caters to the needs of 496.10 acres of agricultural lands in Ponneri Taluk and is maintained by the Public Works Department. There are other lakes like Pallipalayam Lake, Keerapakkam Lake, Uppu Nelvayal Lake and Kallur Lake are getting seriously polluted by the untreated effluent discharge from these fish ponds. During rainy season, the bunds prevent the flood water from flowing out of the agricultural lands resulting in stagnation of saline water on the fertile agricultural lands.
3. It is further alleged that the shrimp farming is done without any license or approval from the District Collector or from the Coastal Aqua Cultural Authority. As the fish farming is done by raising the bunds and using various types of chemicals, the fertility of the land is spoiled. The discharge of untreated effluent by the fish farmers has destroyed the quality of the soil rendering the agricultural lands unfit for cultivation. Hence, the applicants have moved this Tribunal seeking a direction to the respondents to take appropriate action against the unauthorised ornament fish farming in the above referred villages and take necessary action to restore lands back to agricultural use.
[3]4. Pursuant to the direction given by this Tribunal to the Pollution Control Board to conduct an inspection and do the soil test, detailed report has been filed by the Joint Committee constituted for this purpose comprising of 1) Revenue Divisional Officer, Ponneri, 2) a Senior Officer from Fisheries Department and 3) a Senior Officer from Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board.
5. An action taken report was filed by the District Collector dated 21.12.2021. The report has culled out the following:
1. For the purpose of fish culture activity, earthen bunds are raised to 2 to 3 feet and filled with borewell water. The small fish are grown in earthen ponds and no chemicals and salts are added in the water for the fish culture activity. The fish are fed with only natural grains.
2. Waste water samples were collected at the discharge point of ornamental fish culture ponds. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board lab has analysed the samples and reported as below:
Except the Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) and chlorides, all other parameters are within the prescribed standards.
The TDS exceeds the permissible limits due to the withdrawal of large quantity of ground water for fish culture activity. The high raised earthen bunds prevent the rain water from draining out of the agricultural lands leading to inundation of the crops. Though, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has not done soil analysis, it was sent to the Agricultural Department and the report stated that the land is not fit for agricultural purposes due to the presence of higher quantity of salt.
The fish culture ponds do not come under the purview of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, since the farms with more than 5 hectares of land alone will come under the purview of Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board. Therefore, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has noticed that no violations were reported in the above fish farm activities. There was no disparity between the sand and water samples taken from the ornamental fish pond and the adjacent agricultural lands including the applicants land and the borewells.
There is no damage caused to the land and water due to the formation and functioning of the ornamental fish ponds. The salt content in the soil in the above referred villages are natural high. In order to avoid inundation of the agricultural lands due to the release of the water from PerriyaKarumpur Lake the depth of the water drain canal has been increased from 10 feet to 25 feet.
6. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has also filed reply dated 29.12.2021 with the following observations:
1. The analysis shows parameters in waste water samples from the ornamental fish culture in small concrete tanks are within the permissible limits.
2. The TDS in the waste water sample collected from the ornamental fish culture ponds exceeds permissible limit because of depth of borewells and withdrawal of high quantity of ground water for fish culture.
7. There is another report filed on 06.01.2022 by the Tamil Nadu [4] Pollution Control Board which also reiterates the same in addition to the following points:
1. The fish ponds units are in operation in the wet agricultural lands without obtaining NOC from ground water department.
2. The Aqua Cultural Authority had made it mandatory that all shrimp farms of 5 hectares should have effluent treatment system or the effluent treatment pond facility.
O.A. No. 120 2021
8. The above application was suo motu registered by this Tribunal on the basis of the newspaper report published in the vernacular daily under the caption "crisp coloured fish farms are accused of affecting ground water".
9. The above news item refers to ornamental fish farms which are established in the agricultural lands in villages, namely, Lakshmipuram, Konimedu, Mettupalayan, Pammathukulam, Eranguppam, Krishnampet, old Pammathukulam and Sarathkandikar. The above fish farming causes lot of damages to ground water affecting the fertility of the agricultural lands nearby and also causing damage to the environment and affecting the income of the agriculturists in that area.
10. A Joint Committee was appointed in this case also with the specific task of ascertaining the number of ornamental fish farms functioning in that area, whether they have obtained necessary permission, whether any permission obtained from the authorities for drawing ground water and whether any damage has been caused to the soil or water to the neighbouring properties.
11. The Joint Inspection report dated 15.09.2021 was filed. It has been stated that nearly 30 numbers of crisp colour fish ponds are identified in the area and all the fish farms are using ground water through tube wells. As far as the ground water Department is concerned, the extraction of ground water for commercial purposes without No Objection Certificate (NOC) is an illegal act as per Government Order MS. No. 142, Public Works (R2) Department dated 23.07.2014. The report further states that from the Physio-chemical water analysis, it is inferred that there is no remarkable sign of deterioration of water quality. The parameters on pollution are to be inferred with the samples collected by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board.
[5]12. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has also filed its independent report dated 29.11.2021 with the following conclusion:
A. The analysed parameters in waste water samples from the ornamental fish culture in small concrete tanks are within the permissible limit. B. It is recommended that the waste water generated shall be utilised for irrigation purposes, which would help avoiding stagnation in the earthen ponds.
13. 3rd respondent, who is the Fisheries Department, has also filed their independent report dated 13.09.2021 concurring with the view of the Joint Inspection report and the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board report. It was also stated that necessary steps are being taken by the Department of Fisheries to register the ornamental fish farms.
14. Thus based on the field level observations, the Joint Committee had submitted a report stating that the fresh water ornamental fish culture practised in Red Hills area does not have impact on agricultural and its related soil and water quality and recommended for getting No Objection Certificate from the ground water department for drawal of ground water.
15. The primordial contention of the applicant is that ornamental fish farms have been established in the midst of agricultural lands in the villages mentioned above.
15.1 As only for an extent of 5 hectares and above effluent treatment system is required, smaller fish farms of less than 5 hectares are set up and the effluent generated are let out into the agricultural lands.
15.2 Secondly, construction of high rise bunds on all sides of fish farms prevents the flood water from getting drained resulting in stagnation of water in the cultivable lands causing huge loss and damage.
15.3 Thirdly, even as per the report of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) dated 30.12.2021 the aqua cultural units are in operation without obtaining No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Ground Water Department.
15.4 Fourthly, the applicant had objected to the report of the District Collector as it does not address the issue relating to stagnation of water due to construction of high raised bunds by the unlicensed fish farmers.
[6]16. Thus on the above grounds, the applicant had prayed for shutting down the unlicensed ornamental fish culture farms operating on the agricultural lands.
17. Aquaculture is assuming increasing importance in recent years on a global basis, the high productivity levels among different farming system, aquaculture is receiving greater investments. However, the unplanned expansion of aquaculture has resulted in degradation and in certain cases destruction of the natural resources.
18. Though, the fish farming activities are done using surface run-off water, ground water and spring water are also used during lean season which causes depletion in ground water table. Further, exploitation of underground fresh water may lead to soil degradation. The aqua feeds are generally blamed for causing pollution. In fact, the major source of pesticides in the water bodies is the agricultural run-off. Similarly, indiscriminate use of antibodies and other chemicals is also an area of concern, the waste water in fish culture is arbitrarily used in fish culture without taking into consideration the health aspects.
19. This fish farming activities being a lucrative and developmental one, should be analysed in terms of environmental issues and guidelines to be formulated in this regard. Before the issue become deep rooted, it would be appropriate for the authorities to foresee the same and formulate the remedial measures and ensure the implementation of the same. It would not only increase the productivity but also sustainable aquaculture.
20. In light of the above, the authorities are given directions as follows:
1. Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) can issue guidelines for the aquaculture units, including the quantity of antibiotic usage, which are operating in less than 5 hectares of land.
2. The Fisheries Department to monitor these units and have a check on the effluents and the chemicals used and make it mandatory to register the units and prescribe necessary norms. They shall also address bio-security concerns, when exotic species are being allowed for farming.
[7]
3. The Department of Agriculture is directed to check the suitability of the water discharged from these Aquaculture farms for agricultural purposes.
4. Fisheries Department should periodically check whether the waste water is being drained properly without stagnation in neighbouring lands.
5. The ornamental fish units shall obtain necessary NOC for drawal of ground water from the Competent Authority.
21. The above directions may be complied with within a period of six months.
22. With the above directions, the Applications are disposed of.
............................................................J.M. (Smt. Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana) .......................................E.M. (Dr. Satyagopal Korlapati) Internet- Yes/No All India NGT Reporter-Yes/No O.A. No. 103/2021(SZ)& O.A. No. 120/2021(SZ) 11th May, 2022. (AM) [8] Before the National Green Tribunal Southern Zone (Chennai) O.A. No.103 of 2021 (SZ) With O.A. No.120 of 2021 (SZ) C. Ramu, Versus The District Collector, Thiruvallur and Ors.
With Tribunal on its own motion Suo Motu Versus The Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu O.A. No. 103/2021(SZ) O.A. No. 120/2021(SZ) 11th May, 2022. (AM [9]