National Green Tribunal
Hotel Sentinel Through Managing ... vs The Andaman And Nicobar Administration ... on 7 January, 2022
Item No. 03-04 Court No.1
BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL
EASTERN ZONE BENCH, KOLKATA
(Through Video Conferencing)
Appeal No. 06/2017/EZ
With
Appeal No. 09/2017/EZ
Andaman Chamber of Commerce Industry & Ors. Appellant(s)
Versus
The Andaman & Nicobar Administration & Ors. Respondent(s)
With
Hotel Sentinel & Ors. Appellant(s)
Versus
The Andaman & Nicobar Administration & Ors. Respondent(s)
Date of hearing: 07.01.2022
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE B. AMIT STHALEKAR, JUDICIAL MEMBER
HON'BLE MR. SAIBAL DASGUPTA, EXPERT MEMBER
For Appellant(s) : Ms. Anjili Nag, Advocate
For Respondent(s) : Mr. Surendra Kumar, Advocate for A& N PCC a/w
Mr. V.V. Dinesh Kumar, Member Secretary, A&N, PCC
Mr. Shatadu Chakraborty, Advocate for R-2, 3, 6 & 8
ORDER
1. Heard Ms. Anjili Nag, learned Counsel for the Appellant.
2. One affidavit dated 06.01.2022 has been filed by Respondent No.1, Chief Secretary, Andaman & Nicobar Islands; same is taken on record.
3. One affidavit dated 06.01.2022 has been filed by Respondent No.7;
same is taken on record.
4. Mr. V.V. Dinesh Kumar, Member Secretary, Andaman & Nicobar Pollution Control Committee is present to assist the Court.
5. In the affidavit of the Andaman & Nicobar Pollution Control Committee, it has been mentioned in paragraph 16 that there are 413 Hotels and 22 Automobile Service Centre out of which 288 Hotels fall under Green Category, 124 Hotels and 22 Automobile 1 Service Centers fall under Orange Category and 01 Hotel falls under Red Category.
6. In paragraph 20, it has been mentioned that all information received from the Electricity Department and from the GST Department, it has come to the notice of the Pollution Committee that there are 569 Hotels.
7. The Member Secretary therefore prays that some more time may be granted to evaluate the status of all these Hotels and any other additional Hotels that may come to the notice of the Pollution Committee to determine as to how many of them are violating environmental norms.
8. The affidavit also discloses that out of 103 Hotels mentioned in paragraph 10, 61 nos. are non-complying units whereas closure notice has been issued to 14 units and final notices have been issued to the 61 hotels which are operating without Consent to Operate (CTO) but have installed STP and ETP. It has not been mentioned as to how much Environmental Compensation or penalty has been computed against such Hotels or Automobile Service Centre which are violating the environmental norms. We expected the affidavit of the Pollution Control Committee to file comprehensive details rather than burdening this court with affidavit upon affidavit.
9. Paragraph 14 of this affidavit may also been reproduced as under:-
"14. I state that the units whose consent to operate have been held up due to Costal Regulation Zone (CRZ) issues are 50. Out of which, 45 units are Hotels and 05 are Automobile Service Centers. On verification with each unit it has been informed that 08 units have applied to Forest Department out of which 1 has obtained CRZ, 7 units are pending with Forest department, out of which 5 are pending for Post Facto Clearance. 03 units have applied to Revenue department out of 3 has obtained CRZ,17 units have informed that they have not applied for CRZ, 15 units have informed that they have applied for CRZ but does 2 not possess any valid documents and 07 units have not provided any information.
Port N&M Swaraj Shaheed Total
Blair Andaman Dweep Dweep
Hotels 29 - 12 04 45
Automobile
Service 05 - - - 05
Centre
(ASC)
Total 34 - 12 04 50
Abstract
1. Applied to Forest Department (Post Facto) = 05
2. Applied to Forest Department = 03 (01 issued)
3. Applied to Tehsildar = 03 (03 issued)
4. Unit have informed that they have not = 17
applied for CRZ Clearance
5. Units have informed that they have applied = 15 for CRZ but does not possess any valid documents
6. Units that have not provided any information = 07"
10. We find that out of the 50 Hotels/Automobile Service Centers mentioned in the chart, it has not been indicated as to what action has been taken against them.
11. The learned Counsel submits that the 50 units which are referred to in paragraph 14 are part of the 61 units referred to paragraph 10 and 12. From the reading of these paragraphs these facts cannot be culled out and therefore, we cannot draw any inference to that effect as suggested by the learned Counsel.
12. The learned Counsel therefore, prays that he may be granted more time to file a comprehensive affidavit clarifying each fact and also verifying the status of all the Hotels/Resorts/Automobile Service Centers etc. within the Andaman and Nicobar Administration.
13. We grant the respondents two months time to file a fresh affidavit. 3
14. We request Mr. V.V. Dinesh Kumar, Member Secretary, Andaman & Nicobar Pollution Control Committee to be present on the next date of listing to assist the court.
15. List on 10.03.2022.
..................................... B. Amit Sthalekar, JM ................................... Saibal Dasgupta, EM January 07, 2022 Appeal No. 06/2017/EZ With Appeal No. 09/2017/EZ MN 4