National Green Tribunal
Bonani Kakkar vs Oil India Limited on 6 August, 2020
Author: Adarsh Kumar Goel
Bench: Adarsh Kumar Goel
Item Nos. 05&6 Court No. 1
BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL
PRINCIPAL BENCH, NEW DELHI
(By Video Conferencing)
Original Application No. 43/2020(EZ)
(With preliminary report dated 24.07.2020)
Bonani Kakkar Applicant(s)
Versus
Oil India Limited & Ors. Respondent(s)
AND
Original Application No. 44/2020(EZ)
Wild Life and Environment
Conservation Organization Applicant(s)
Versus
Union of India & Ors. Respondent(s)
Date of hearing: 06.08.2020
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ADARSH KUMAR GOEL, CHAIRPERSON
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S. P. WANGDI, JUDICIAL MEMBER
HON'BLE DR. NAGIN NANDA, EXPERT MEMBER
Applicant: Mr. Siddartha Mitra, Senior Advocate with Ms. Shruti Agarwal
Advocate in O.A. No. 43/2020(EZ)
Ms. Ranu Purohit, Advocate in O.A. No. 44/2020 (EZ)
Respondent(s): Mr. S.N. Sharma, Senior Advocate with Mr. Parthiv K. Goswami
and Mr. Rahul Pratap, Advocates for OIL
Mr. Raj Kumar, Advocate for CPCB
Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, Advocate for State of Assam
ORDER
1. This order is being passed in continuation of orders dated 24.06.2020 and 02.07.2020 dealing with the issue of providing remedies to the victims and for restoration of environment as a result of incident of 1 oil blowout on 27.05.2020 and other consequential events that followed at Baghjan in Tinsukia District of Assam.
2. The Tribunal noted the case of the applicant that as a result of blowout on 27.5.2020, the Baghjan Oil well set up by the Oil India Limited (OIL) released propane, methane, propylene and other gases causing damage to bamboo groves, tea gardens, banana trees and betel nut trees in the area and also spread into the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park which, according to the Applicant, records over 40 mammals, 500 species of birds, 104 fish species, 105 butterfly species and 680 types of plants including a wide variety of rare orchids. The area harbours tiger, elephant, wild buffalo, leopard, hoolock gibbon, capped langur, slow loris, Gangetic dolphin, besides critically endangered bird species such as the Bengal Florican, White Winged Duck, Greater Adjutant stork, White rumped vulture, slender billed vulture as well as the rare and endemic Black-breasted parrotbill. The oil also spilled into the Dibru river causing a film of oil in the river that passes through the Maguri- Motapung wetlands, an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area, and along the Dibru Saikhowa National Park. The Maguri-Motapung Wetland, located less than 10 km from Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, is a part of the Dibru-Saikhowa Biosphere Reserve (DSBR) and hosts some of the most vulnerable species of birds such as Swamp Francolin, Marsh Babbler, Greater Adjutant and Pallas's Fish-eagle, Red-headed Vulture and White-bellied Heron, and over 80 species of fish. River Dibru is a tributary of River Lohit which then forms river Brahmaputra in the lower reaches. Brahmaputra river system is also a home to Gangetic dolphins. As a result of the blowout, there was also a fire on 09.06.2020. The applicant has also stated that the blowout has left behind huge volumes of residue as gas condensate which is a mixture of chemical compounds 2 that are toxic for land and vegetation and is a known carcinogen. The blowout is not only hazardous to the health of the people but also severely affect their livelihood whose occupation is mainly agriculture, fishing and animal rearing. 1610 families were displaced as a result of the gas leak.
3. Vide order dated 24.06.2020, the Tribunal constituted a Committee headed by a former Judge of Gauhati High Court with representatives from CPCB, CSIR, Guwahati University, State Bio- diversity Board, ONGCL, State PCB and the District Magistrate, Tinsukia District with liberty to the Committee to co-opt any other expert or institution. The terms of reference of the Committee are:-
i. Cause of gas and oil leak;
ii. Extent of loss and damage caused to human life, wildlife,
environment;
iii. Damage and health hazard caused to the public; iv. Whether any contamination has been caused to water, air and soil of the area of the oil well and its vicinity; v. Extent of contamination of water of the Dibru river due to the oil spill;
vi. For the purpose of (iv) and (v) above, it may be necessary to get the air quality monitored and, samples of soil and ground water of the area as well as the water of river Dibru downstream of the oil spill tested;
vii. Impact on the eco sensitive zone of the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park and Maguri-Motapung Wetland;
viii. Impact on agriculture, Fishery and domestic animals in the area;
3 ix. Whether there was any mitigation measure put in place by OIL to offset the incidents such as the one in question; x. Persons responsible for the fire incidents and the cause of failure to prevent the incident;
xi. Assessment of compensation for the victims and cost of restitution of the damage caused to property and the environment;
xii. Preventive and remedial measures;
xiii. Any other incidental or allied issues.
4. The OIL moved an I.A. No. 30 of 2020 for recall of order dated 24.06.2020 which was disposed of vide order dated 02.07.2020 reiterating the order dated 24.06.2020 except the requirement of depositing the amount of Rs. 25 Crores in view of OIL having set apart more than the said amount and statement made before this Tribunal that any further amount will be made available as and when necessary.
5. The Committee constituted by this Tribunal filed its preliminary report dated 24.07.2020 which came up for consideration on 29.07.2020. However, on the request of learned counsel for the OIL, the matter was deferred to today to enable the OIL to file its submission with reference to the said report.
6. We have heard learned counsel appearing for the parties on the subject of further course of action to be adopted.
7. The preliminary report of the Committee mentions the extent of damage to the environment, to the private property and to the individuals. The Committee has also suggested interim measures including the compensation to the affected families and individuals. 4
8. The Committee appointed two Research Associates qualified in the field. It inter alia considered the data gathered with regard to the reasons for the blowout on 27.05.2020 and explosion on 09.06.2020, the environmental and regulatory violations that emerged from primary assessment, environmental damage caused by the blowout based on secondary research/data and the scale of interim compensation to the affected families and individuals. The report covers information collected upto 21.07.2020. However, the report mentions that on 22.07.2020 another explosion occurred resulting in injury to three experts engaged by OIL to douse the fire. The Committee undertook deliberations through telephone and video conferencing in the light of the current pandemic. The Committee gave public notice inviting information and suggestions from all stake holders. The Committee interacted with several stakeholders including representatives of the local communities such as the Baghjan Gaon Milonjyoti Yuba Sangha, environmental action groups and NGOs with domain expertise such as Aaranyak etc. The Committee also consulted and received representation and recommendations from environmental scientists including Prof. B.C. Choudhury, Dr. Asad Rahmani, Dr. Ritesh Kumar, Dr. Ranjan Kumar Das and thought it proper to call for records/opinion from various institutions with expertise and resources in those specialized areas. Further, the Committee engaged with Department of Environment, Government of Assam, CPCB, State PCB, State Diversity Board, CSIR- NEIST. Reference has also been made to the report of Committees constituted by Government of Assam headed by Shri M.K. Yadava, reports of the Gaonburahs (Village heads) of the concerned villages, called for through the Office of the District Administration and the Wildlife Institute of India.
5
9. The Committee has thereafter made its observations with reference to various terms of reference as follows:-
a. Cause of Accident "So, in summary we find following probable reasons of this blowout :
(i) There was deficiency in understanding of the gravity of a critical operation like removal of BOP without having a confirmed and tested secondary safety barrier.
(ii) There was deficiency in proper planning of critical operations. There was a clear mismatch between Planning and its Execution at site and deviations from the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
(iii) There were serious deficiencies of proper level of supervision of critical operation at well site both from the Contractor as well as from OIL."
b. Fixation of Responsibility for the Accident "The Committee will be able to give a clear finding on whom to fix the responsibility for this accident in its subsequent Reports."
c. Immediate Preventive Measures to Avoid Similar Blowout and Explosions Preventive measures suggested include isolation of hydro carbon bearing zone, placement of secondary safety barrier, placement of cement plug, proper cement slurry design and preparation of contingency plan.
10. With regard to status of compliance of environment safeguards, the Committee found:-
"In view of the above discussion and on basis of the submissions and documents submitted by OIL and the PCB, Assam, it is concluded that OIL does not have, till date, the required consent to establish and/or consent to operate to either carry out drilling and testing of hydrocarbons in Well Baghjan-5 under the DSNP Area, except for what has been stated in para 10 above. This indicates a serious and grave infraction against the statutory environmental safeguards, more particularly under Section 25 & 26 of the Water Act, Section 21 of the Air Act, the authorization under Rule 6 of the Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016 and the Environmental Clearance dated
11.05.2020 for the said project. This may therefore require scrutiny of all existing projects of OIL in the State of Assam to ascertain if they meet the mandatory requirements of obtaining consent / authorization under the aforesaid Acts and Rules. It is recommended 6 that the Hon'ble NGT may also look into the activities of the PCB, Assam with regard to the grant of CTE / NOC and CTO for all the projects of OIL, presently in operation, in the State of Assam."
11. The Committee further found:-
"Having reviewed the documents placed before the Committee by both OIL and the Assam State Biodiversity Board, there appears to be a clear noncompliance vis-à-vis of conducting the Biodiversity Impact Assessment study as was mandated vide Clause 1 of the aforesaid Order passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court. Neither OIL nor the Assam State Biodiversity Board have presented any Biodiversity Impact Assessment study that was undertaken after 07.09.2017. To a specific request for submission of all expert committee reports pertaining to DSNP and its biodiversity, the Assam State Biodiversity Board clarified that such Reports, if any, were available only with the Wildlife Wing of the Assam Forest Department, which administers the DSNP and the biological diversity contained therein under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The statement of the Assam State Biodiversity Board, thus implies in clear terms that Assam State Biodiversity Board was not approached by OIL to carry out a Biodiversity Impact Assessment. In fact, OIL, in their reply to the Committee's query has stated to have engaged the Institute of Advanced Study in Science & Technology to prepare Biodiversity Impact Assessment study. It is not clarified by OIL whether they had informed the Hon'ble Supreme Court before making such deviations. In any case, as on date, there appears to be no such Biodiversity Impact Assessment study, either prepared by the Assam State Biodiversity Board or any other agency engaged by OIL, on record, till date.
The OIL thereby had contravened the provisions Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006 under which it is mandatory to obtain EC for any offshore drilling projects before commencement of activities on 20.11.2006."
12. With regard to assessment of damages and interim measures after noting the extent of damage and impact in the environment, it was observed:-
"The Committee is, however, of the unanimous view, that it is necessary to set up/induct a multidisciplinary team comprising of community members along with experts on wetland ecology, hydrology, fisheries, water birds' specialists and others who will report to the Committee and will be responsible to formulate a restoration plan for the Maguri-Motapung wetland and also to ascertain the extent of damages and the compensation to be fixed for that purpose. The Committee, in its subsequent report shall make necessary recommendations for payment of compensation by the Pollutor for restoration of the damages caused to the eco-system."7
13. The recommendations on this aspect are:-
"Based on the above discussion, the Committee recommends the following:
(i) An initial amount of Rs.25 Lacs will be released immediately to all the affected under category (i) whose information is already available with the Office of the District Administration.
For the affected families under category, (ii) the amount of 10 lacs will be released immediately within an outer limit of 15 days, based on the information already available with the Office of the District Administration. The compensation amount, if any already paid, shall be deducted from the aforesaid amount of interim compensation.
(ii) The Office of the District Administration will compile a list of all those in Category (iii), who have been moderately / partially impacted, in consultation with the revenue officers, PWD, concerned circle officer, the Gaonburahs and community representatives of the affected villages. The disbursement of the amount will be completed expeditiously within an outer limit of 45 days from the passing of the order by the Hon'ble NGT for interim compensation.
(iii) The affected families, particularly under category (i) and (ii), whose names have been left out of the list would be entitled to the said amount after due verification within 7 days from the passing of the order by the Hon'ble NGT for interim compensation and the same will be disbursed within 15 days from the date of completion of the verification.
(iv) The interim compensation will be paid by OIL and from the funds which have already been made available to the Office of the District Administration. The balance amount, if any, will be made available immediately by OIL and as and when asked by the Office of the District Administration.
(v) One-time compensation amounting to Rs.30,000/- that has been agreed to be paid by OIL to the affected families, who had moved to the relief camps due to Well Baghjan-5 blowout on 27.05.2020, as an immediate relief, will be disbursed immediately as per the list prepared by the circle officer, Doomdooma and available with the Office of the District Administration and not later than 7 days from the passing of the order by the Hon'ble NGT for interim compensation. The affected families whose names have been left out of the list would be entitled to the said amount after due verification and the same will be disbursed within 15 days from the passing of the order by the Hon'ble NGT for interim compensation.
(vi) One-time compensation of Rs.25,000/- will be disbursed to each of the affected families and individuals who had shifted to the relief camps in the wake of the explosion in Well Baghjan-5 on 09.06.2020 as an immediate relief as per the list prepared by the Circle officer, Doomdooma and available 8 with the Office of the District Administration and not later than 7 days from the passing of the order by the Hon'ble NGT for interim compensation. The affected families whose names have been left out of the list would be entitled to the said amount after due verification and the same will be disbursed within 15 days from the passing of the order by the Hon'ble NGT for interim compensation.
(vii) The interim compensation as well as the one time compensation, as stated above, will be credited directly to the bank accounts of the affected families and individuals by the Office of the District Administration. The said interim compensation is non-recoverable and will be adjusted against the final compensation due to the affected families and individuals.
(viii) An immediate health insurance policy including COVID 19 will be made available by OIL to all affected individuals and families by the Well Baghjan-5 blowout and explosion and who are presently taking shelter in the relief camps within 7 days from the passing of the order by the Hon'ble NGT for interim compensation."
14. Finally the conclusions of the Committee are:-
"Based on the preliminary assessment, the Committee has arrived the following preliminary findings, which are subject to further consideration by the Committee. In the interim, the Committee is also of the unanimous view that the well Baghjan-5 blowout and subsequent explosion has led to extensive damage to both the publicly owned resources including the Maguri-Motapung wetland, DSNP, the eco sensitive zone including the water bodies, air, wildlife and the natural resources surrounding it. Additionally, it has caused irreparable physical harm and damage to privately owned property of the survivors in the affected villages. The Committee therefore concludes the preliminary report with suggested interim measure including compensation for the affected families and individuals.
Preliminary Inferences I. The probable reasons of Well Baghjan-5 blowout and explosion are as under:
a. There was deficiency in understanding of the gravity of a critical operation like removal of BOP without having a confirmed and tested secondary safety barrier.
b. There was deficiency in proper planning of critical operations. There was a clear mismatch between planning and its execution at site and deviations from the Standard Operating Procedure. c. There were serious deficiencies of proper level of supervision of critical operation at the well site both from the Contractor as well as from OIL.
II. OIL did not have the mandatory Consent to Establish and Consent to Operate both under the Section 25 & 26 of the Water (Prevention & 9 Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, under Section 21 of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act and the Ruled framed thereunder, when it first started its drilling operations in Well Baghjan-5 in 2006.
III. On the day of the blowout of Well Baghjan-5 i.e. 27.05.2020 and subsequent explosion on 09.06.2020, OIL did not have the mandatory Consent to Establish and Consent to Operate both under Section 25 & 26 of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, under Section 21 of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act and the Rules framed thereunder and/or the authorization Rule 6 of the Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016.
VI. OIL, till date, does not have the required Consent to Establish and/or Consent to Operate to either carry our drilling and testing of hydrocarbons in Well Baghjan-5 under the DSNP Area, except for the years 2008-09, 2012-13, 2018-19, under Section 25 & 26 of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, under Section 21 of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act and the Rules framed thereunder and/or the authorization required Rule 6 of the Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016 which is in clear violation of the conditions stipulated in the Environmental Clearance dated 11.05.2020.
Preliminary Interim Measures I. Immediate Preventive Measures to Avoid Similar Blowout and Explosions
(i) It is pertinent to note that the handling of Gas wells is different than Oil wells. Therefore, it is necessary to have different SOP for Gas wells.
(ii) Isolation of any Hydrocarbon bearing Zone by a secondary barrier is critical and ought to be planned carefully. Such well situation cannot be relied upon only on Hydrostatic Head of well Fluid. There ought to be proper secondary safety barrier, which are tested both positively and negatively to check its integrity before attending any critical operation in the well like nipple down of BOP.
(iii) Placement of secondary safety barrier must be placed as near to the perforated zone and should not placed anywhere in the well.
(iv) Placement of Cement Plug is to be always done in the vertical portion of Casing. If required to place Cement Plug in a deviated well, either a perforated Tubing/ Drill pipe shoe is to be used and the string ought to be rotated during placement of cement slurry by using swivel joint or use the swivel joint with Kelly of the Rig. After balancing the Plug, the string needs to be pulled out slowly and while breaking the joints, Rotary is to be used to break the joint which will help cement slurry to spill all around and also to fall smoothly from inside string.10
(v) It is important to design Cement Slurry with water loss additive to control water loss from cement slurry to bare minimum during setting of cement. Retarder may also be added to get the desired thickening time. Compressive Strength of the designed slurry are to be tested at 12hours, 24 hours and 36 hours.
(vi) Before doing any critical operation in well, a comprehensive contingency Plan must be made available to face any eventuality. In this particular well due to not having any such Plan.
II. Restoration Plan for Maguri-Motapung Wetland
1. The Committee is of the unanimous view, that it is necessary to set up/induct a multidisciplinary team comprising of community members along with experts on wetland ecology, hydrology, fisheries, water birds' specialists and others who will report to the Committee and will be responsible to formulate a restoration plan for the Maguri-Motapung wetland and also to ascertain the extent of damages and the compensation to be fixed for that purpose. The Committee, in its subsequent report shall make necessary recommendations for payment of compensation by the Pollutor for restoration of the damages caused to the eco-system.
III. Health Safeguards in Relief Camps
1. It is specifically recommended that regular screening for COVID is conducted and as and when necessary. It is further recommended that adequate number of relief camps with adequate health and sanitation facilities be set up by the Office of the District Administration together with OIL, in conformity with the COVID-19 guidelines issued by the WHO, Government of India and Government of Assam. Furthermore, it is specifically recommended that all individuals presently being accommodated in the relief camps be provided with immediate health safeguards, including insurance cover for COVID 19.
IV. Interim Compensation to the affected families
1. The Committee, proposes the formulation of three categories of affected families to assess the question of interim compensation namely ;
(i) Those whose houses have been completely gutted by the fire thereby causing grave injury to life and health, loss of livelihood, cultivable land, livestock, damage to standing crops and horticulture, fisheries etc.
(ii) Those whose houses have been severely damaged thereby causing grave injury to life and health, loss of livelihood, cultivable land, livestock, damage to standing crops and horticulture, fisheries etc.
(iii) Those whose houses have been moderately/partially damaged or whose standing crops and horticulture have been partially damaged thereby causing injury to life and health, loss of livelihood, cultivable land, livestock, damaged to fisheries etc. 11
(iv) The scale of interim compensation is as follows :
Category (i) Rs. 25 Lacs Category (ii) Rs. 10 Lacs Category (iii) Rs. 2.5 Lacs
2. An initial amount of Rs.25 Lacs will be released immediately to all the affected under category (i) whose information is already available with the Office of the District Administration. For the affected families under category, (ii) the amount of 10 lacs will be released immediately within an outer limit of 15 days, based on the information already available with the Office of the District Administration. The compensation amount, if any already paid, shall be deducted from the aforesaid amount of interim compensation.
3. The Office of the District Administration will compile a list of all those in Category (iii), who have been moderately / partially impacted, in consultation with the revenue officers, PWD, concerned circle officer, the Gaonburahs and community representatives of the affected villages. The disbursement of the amount will be completed expeditiously within an outer limit of 45 days from the passing of the order by the Hon'ble NGT for interim compensation.
4. The affected families, particularly under category (i) and (ii), whose names have been left out of the list would be entitled to the said amount after due verification within 7 days from the passing of the order by the Hon'ble NGT for interim compensation and the same will be disbursed within 15 days from the date of completion of the verification.
5. The interim compensation will be paid by OIL and from the funds which have already been made available to the Office of the District Administration. The balance amount, if any, will be made available immediately by OIL and as and when asked by the Office of the District Administration.
6. One-time compensation amounting to Rs.30,000/- that has been agreed to be paid by OIL to the affected families, who had moved to the relief camps due to Well Baghjan-5 blowout on 27.05.2020, as an immediate relief, will be disbursed immediately as per the list prepared by the circle officer, Doomdooma and available with the Office of the District Administration and not later than 7 days from the passing of the order by the Hon'ble NGT for interim compensation. The affected families whose names have been left out of the list would be entitled to the said amount after due verification and the same will be disbursed within 15 days from the passing of the order by the Hon'ble NGT for interim compensation.
7. One-time compensation of Rs.25,000/- will be disbursed to each of the affected families and individuals who had shifted to the relief camps in the wake of the explosion in Well Baghjan-5 on 09.06.2020 as an immediate relief as per the list prepared by the Circle officer, Doomdooma and available with the Office of the District Administration and 12 not later than 7 days from the passing of the order by the Hon'ble NGT for interim compensation. The affected families whose names have been left out of the list would be entitled to the said amount after due verification and the same will be disbursed within 15 days from the passing of the order by the Hon'ble NGT for interim compensation.
8. The interim compensation as well as the one time compensation, as stated above, will be credited directly to the bank accounts of the affected families and individuals by the Office of the District Administration. The said interim compensation is non-recoverable and will be adjusted against the final compensation due to the affected families and individuals.
9. An immediate health insurance policy including COVID 19 will be made available by OIL to all affected individuals and families by the Well Baghjan-5 blowout and explosion and who are presently taking shelter in the relief camps within 7 days from the passing of the order by the Hon'ble NGT for interim compensation."
15. We may now refer to the objections filed by the OIL to the report of the Committee. It is submitted that the observations of the Committee are based on review of secondary data which needs to be further verified. No site visit was undertaken. Statements of Sri Niranta Gohain, a so- called environmentalist are not credible. Report of the Wildlife Institute of India (WWI) is based on post blowout incident. The OIL follows all safeguards and SoPs and has employed experienced contractuals. But the said contractor violated the laid down procedures. The Consent to Establish (CTE) and Consent to Operate (CTO) were taken by composite application as per practice being followed. EC was not required at the time operations of OIL commenced as the project value was less than Rs. 50 crores. Contribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) is from tea gardens, forest land and insecticides/pesticides. With regard to environmental impact, it is stated that damage is on account of agricultural activities or other reasons in the area. With regard to harm to the individuals, it is stated that 9000 persons have been accommodated in 12 relief camps and arrangement has been made for the food and other needs. On situations improving, stabilized people are 13 leaving the camps. As on 22.07.2020, approximately 5758 number of occupants are camped in 7 relief camps. Expenditure incurred by the OIL is said to be Rs. 151 crores which includes Rs. 22.38 crores towards rehabilitation and compensation to the affected families as follows:
Rs. 9 crores one-time compensation took to the 3000 families in relief camps.
Rs. 2.20 crores paid to 11 families whose houses were burnt @ Rs.
20 lakhs per family.
Rs. 11.17 crores for running relief camps upto 23.07.2020.
16. The Committee has made three categories of persons entitled to interim compensation and has suggested the scale of such compensation as follows:
"(i) whose houses have been completely gutted by the fire;
(ii) whose houses have been severely damaged;
(iii) whose houses have been moderately/partially damaged or whose standing crops and horticulture have been partially damaged.
The scale of interim compensation is as follows:
Category (i) - Rs.25 Lacs Category (ii) - Rs.10 Lacs and Category(iii) - Rs.2.5 Lacs"
17. According to the OIL, compensation has already been paid to persons covered by category (i) @ Rs. 20 lakhs per family. The other two categories have not been identified. Additional compensation for category
(i) is also not justified.
18. We have given due consideration to the objections. We are unable to accept the same at this stage for prima facie view and interim compensation. The recommendations of the Committee on the subject of compensation for three categories of victims are accepted with the 14 clarification that the compensation already paid will be taken into account and excluded from the interim compensation recommended by the Committee. Compensation to victims of categories (ii) and (iii) will be subject to identification by the District Administration which may be completed preferably within one month. We request the Assam State Legal Services Authority to oversee the process.
19. We also accept the recommendation for interim compensation to the families who have moved out of the relief camps after the blowout of 27.05.2020 and to the families who have shifted to the relief camps after explosion on 09.06.2020.
20. The disbursement may be made through the District Administration by deposit to the bank accounts of the affected families which may also be overseen by the State Legal Services Authority.
21. The amount calculated and quantified by the District Magistrate may be made available by the OIL within two weeks of letter of the District Magistrate.
22. Other interim recommedations may be complied to the extent there is no dispute, subject to call being taken by concerned statutory authorities and finally by this Tribunal on the next date.
The Committee may give its final report before the next date by e- mail at [email protected] preferably in the form of searchable PDF/OCR Support PDF and not in the form of Image PDF.
A copy of this order be sent to Justice B.P. Katakey, former Judge of the Gauhati High Court, the Chief Secretary, Assam, MoEF&CC, 15 Member Secretary, Assam State Legal Services Authority and District Magistrate, Tinsukia by e-mail.
List again on 03.11.2020.
Adarsh Kumar Goel, CP S. P. Wangdi, JM Dr. Nagin Nanda, EM August 06, 2020 Original Application No. 43/2020(EZ) & Original Application No. 44/2020(EZ) A & DV 16