National Green Tribunal
Dilip Kumar & Ors vs State Of Jharkhand on 15 September, 2022
Item No.2 (Court No. 2)
BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL
PRINCIPALBENCH
(By Video Conferencing)
Original Application No. 167/2022
Dilip Kumar & Ors. Applicant
Versus
State of Jharkhand Respondent
Date of hearing: 15.09.2022
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN KUMAR TYAGI, JUDICIAL MEMBER
HON'BLE DR. AFROZ AHMAD, EXPERT MEMBER
Application is registered based on a complaint received by Post
ORDER
1. The grievances made in the present letter petition are regarding environmental pollution caused by loading and unloading of stone chips and establishment of coal loading yard at Dumka Railway Station.
2. Vide order dated 05.05.2022, this Tribunal constituted a Joint Committee comprising of the State PCB, General Manager, Eastern Railway Howrah, West Bengal and Deputy Commissioner, Dumka and directed the same to submit Factual and Action Taken Report within two months.
3. In compliance thereof, the Joint Committee has submitted Factual and Action Taken Report dated 02.08.2022 vide email dated 23.09.2022.
The relevant part of the report reads as under:-
"Action Taken Report in light of the directions issued by the Hon'ble NGT (PB), New Delhi in O.A No. 167 of 2022 dated 05.05.2022 in the matter of Dilip Kumar & Ors Vs. State of Jharkhand.
X X X X X X Accordingly, a Joint Committee comprising of the following members has been constituted:
O. A. No. 167/2022 Dilip Kumar & Ors Vs. State of Jharkhand -2- i. Mr. Ravi Shankar Shukla, Deputy Commissioner, Dumka, Govt. of Jharkhand ii. Mr. Kamlakant Pathak, Regional Officer, JSPCB Regional Office, Dumka iii. Mr. Brij Kishor Sharma, Assistant Commercial Manager, Asansol, Eastern Railway Asansol, West Bengal
1. The Joint Committee has conducted the inspection of Dumka Goods Shed (Railway Siding) on 22.07.2021 as per the direction issued by the Hon'ble NGT in O.A. No. 167/2022 vide its order dated 05.05.2022 and the copy of the inspection report is enclosed herewith as Annexure 1.
2. The Civil Surgeon-Cum-Chief Medical Officer, Dumka vide letter no. 3107 dated 25.07.2022 has submitted its report to the Regional Officer JSPCB Regional Office Dumka which states that no symptom of asthmatic and skin diseases have been observed in local residents residing within 1.15 K.M of the Railway siding and the same report has been kept before the Joint Committee during the site inspection and the same was also taken into consideration. The observation made by the Joint.
Committee during the inspection are mentioned below:
i. Green belt is being developed along the railway siding however more numbers of trees are required to be planted for creation of effective fence between Siding and habitations.
ii. Fixed type mist fog water sprinklers need to be installed to control the dust generated during loading & unloading activity.
iii. Garland drains and settling pit needs to be constructed to keep surface runoff water within the siding. iv. A tin sheet boundary /wind breaking wall about 20 feet height and 72 feet long has been constructed to cover the entire Railway Siding.
v. The coal needs to be dumped at least 50 meters away from the track to avoid dust entering in railway premises or platform.
vi. The unit shall carry out continuous sprinkling of water along the transportation road to control dust generated from plying of vehicles at the siding. vii. The loading and unloading surface needs to be completely 'paved' viii. The Circle officer of Dumka, who accompanied the team during the visit, was directed to submit a report about the habitation in vicinity and also their feedback as a consultative process.
3. Based on the observations, the following recommendations has been suggested by the Joint Committee which are as follows:
i. The railway siding involved in loading and unloading of the materials shall install fixed type water sprinkling system for effective dust suppression, before start of its operation.
O. A. No. 167/2022 Dilip Kumar & Ors Vs. State of Jharkhand -3- ii. The said unit shall install settling pond of suitable capacity with chemical dosing system for treatment of the runoff water.
iii. The said unit shall construct the wind breaking wall of 20 feet high covering entire siding area, to prevent the spread of dust and adequate tree plantation shall be carried out all along the boundary wall.
4. Based on the abovementioned observations, the Regional Officer, JSPCB Regional Office, Dumka vide letter no. 1392 dated 05.09.2022 has issued a show-cause notice to the Goods Shed Superintendent, Dumka Goods Shed to explain their part. The copy of the report is enclosed herewith as Annexure 2."
4. The relevant part of the report of the Joint committee dated 02.08.2022 is reproduced hereunder:
"X X X X X X In light of the above direction a Joint inspection was scheduled on 22.07.2022 at 1.00 PM. Details of the committee member's are as under.
Sr Name Designation Organization
No.
I ShriRavi Shankar Deputy commissioner, Govt. of
Shukla Dumka Jharkhand
Ii Shri Kamlakant Regionsl Officer JSPCB, Regional
Pathak Office, Dumka
iii Shri Brij Kishor Assistant Commercial Eastern Railway,
Sharma Manager, Asansol Asasonl, West
Bengal
Copy of authorization letter is attached collectively as Annexure- II 2.0 Brief Facts and finding of the committee:
2.1 Dumka Goods Shed (Railway siding) is located at Longitude:
24°17'22" N & Latitude: 87°15'38" E. 2.2 The Dumka Goods Shed (Railway Siding) which is in question of the application is situated just opposite and parallel to Dumka Railway station in revenue village-Rashikpur of Distt. Dumka. 2.3 The platform no.03 of Dumka Railway station is located near the Dumka Goods shed and the Railway siding track on which the loading of stone chips is being done. Its distance from platform no.03 is 15 meters and the Railway track where coal is proposed O. A. No. 167/2022 Dilip Kumar & Ors Vs. State of Jharkhand -4- to be loaded is located at a distance of 55 meters. And 61 meters distance between Railway tracks of Coal siding to Railway boundary wall. Coal loading and transportation has not started yet.
2.4 Consent to operate (CTO) for operation of the Dumka Goods shed (Railway Siding) is granted under Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981 and Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974 has been issued by Jharkahnd and State Pollution Control Board vide letter no. JSPCB/RO/RNC/CTO-11434197/2022/109 Dated 2022-05-29 which is valid up to 31.10.2022 duly stipulating certain conditions for loading & unloading of Stone chips-185000 MT/Month and Coal-625000 MT/Month. Copy of CTO is enclosed as Annexure-III 2.5 Presently at Dumka Goods shed only loading of Stone chips and unloading of rice and wheat of Food Corporation of India (FCI) is done. The transportation or loading of coal is proposed with the compliance of certain conditions as directed by Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board. Along with this, it was also told by the railway representative that on an average 2500 passengers travel daily in Dumka railway station. Copy of direction issued to Dumka Goods shed for compliance of certain conditions and copy of the Stone chips loading details for the last 6 month and average daily travel passengers details provided by Railway is enclosed collectively as Annexure-IV 2.6 During the inspection the work of Loading & unloading of Stone Chips was not being done. Due to which harmful effect of dust particles could not be properly assessed. However, it was observed that Stone dust is bound to be generated due to Loading/unloading and plying of vehicles, which shall cause the spread of stone dust in platform, station premises, in and around the tree plants and rooftop of the nearby habitations and hence preventive, precautionary and mitigating measures are necessary. Photographs are enclosed as Annexure-V 2.7 As per health reports submitted by medical department Dumka, there is no any symptom of asthmatic and skin diseases in local residents within the diameter 1.15 KM of Railway siding.
Civil Surgeon-Cum-Chief Medical Officer, Dumka letter is enclosed as Annexure-VI 3.0 Regulatory compliance status under Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981 and Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974:
3.1 A tin sheet boundary /wind breaking wall about 20 feet height and 72 feet long has been constructed near the St. Xavier's School. Some part of which was found in damaged conditions during inspection. Work for construction of boundary wall is under O. A. No. 167/2022 Dilip Kumar & Ors Vs. State of Jharkhand -5- process. Photographs & copy of tender documents is enclosed as Annexure-VII 3.2 To prevent dust from the loading and unloading activity, two movable water tanker have been provided. Fixed type mist fog water sprinklers have not been installed. Railway representative informed that the work of installation of 4 nos. of fixed mist cannon is under process. Photographs & copy of proposed supply is enclosed as Annexure-VIII 3.3 Garland drain with de silting pit has not been constructed along the boundary wall. Its construction is also under process. Copy of tender documents is enclosed as Annexure-VII 3.4 Greenery in Railway siding is not adequate at present photographs & copy of tender documents are enclosed as Annexure-VII 3.5 Concrete sleeper road have been constructed at the entry and exit points of the railway siding. It was noticed during inspection that, the roads were not maintained properly. Photographs is enclosed as Annexure-IX 3.6 Rain water harvesting system has not been implemented at the siding. The implementation of Rain water harvesting is under process. Copy of tender documents is enclosed as Annexure-VII 4.0 Environmental parameter monitoring:
4.1 An online PM10 analyzer has been found installed and was in operation, Real time data & were being transmitted to JSPCB website. Photographs & copy of the monitor data for the Month of June & July 2022 is enclosed as Annexure -- X 4.2 Air quality data monitored on dated 08.02.2022 to 09.02.2022 and 24.07.2022 to 25.07.2022 by JSPCB authorized and NABL accredited lab were analyzed. Minimum value of PM10 was observed 62.03µg/m3 And maximum value was 69.60µg/m3. which are within the limit ( PM10 = 100µg/m3) prescribed by CPCB. Report of the same is enclosed as Annexure- XI 4.3 Air quality data monitored on dated 08.02.2022 to 09.02.2022 and 24.07.2022 to 25.07.2022 by JSPCB authorized and NABL accredited lab were analyzed. Minimum value of PM 2.5 was observed 33.10µg/m3 And maximum value was 38.80µg/m3. which are within the limit ( PM2.5 = 60µg/m3) prescribed by CPCB. Report of the same is enclosed as Annexure- XI 5.0 Over all observation:
5.1 Green belt is being developed along the railway siding however more numbers of trees are required to be planted for creation of effective fence between Siding and Habitations. 5.2 Fixed type mist fog water sprinklers need to be installed to control the dust generated during loading & unloading activity.
O. A. No. 167/2022 Dilip Kumar & Ors Vs. State of Jharkhand -6- 5.3 Garland drains and settling pit need to be constructed to keep surface runoff water within the siding.
5.4 A tin sheet boundary /wind breaking wall about 20 feet height and 72 feet long has been constructed. Needs to be extended as per the length of railway siding. 5.5 The coal needs to be dumped at least 50 meters away from the track to avoid dust entering in railway premises or platform. 5.6 There is a need for continuous sprinkling of water during the transportation road to control dust generated from plying of vehicles at the siding.
5.7 The loading and unloading surface needs to be completely paved.
5.8 The Circle Officer of Dumka, who accompanied the team during the visit, was directed to submit a report about the habitation in vicinity and also their feedback as a consultative process, which is annexed herewith as Annexure -- XII 6.0 Recommendations:
In view of the observation made by the committee constituted by the Hon'ble NGT, in the above said matter, the competent authority may issue necessary direction (if needed and deemed fit) to ensure the following 6.1 At the railway siding involved in loading and unloading of the materials which are prone to generate fugitive dust emissions, should install fixed type water sprinklers for effective dust suppression, before start of its operation.
6.2 Should install settling pond of suitable capacity with chemical dosing system for treatment of the runoff water, 6.3 Should construct the wind breaking wall of 20 feet high covering entire siding area, to prevent the spread of dust and adequate tree plantation along the boundary wall should be ensured."
5. In view of the above, we consider it appropriate to seek response from (1) State of Jharkhand through Chief Secretary, Government of Jharkhand, (2) General Manager, Eastern Railway (3) State PCB, and (4) Deputy Commissioner, Dhumka who stand impleaded as respondents No. 1 to 4 and accordingly direct issuance of notices alongwith copies of the application and report of the Joint Committee to them by E-mail requiring them to file their response/reply to the allegations made in the application and observations/recommendations made in the report of the Joint O. A. No. 167/2022 Dilip Kumar & Ors Vs. State of Jharkhand -7- Committee within two months by [email protected] in the form of searchable PDF/OCR Supported PDF and not in the form of Image PDF.
6. The registry is also directed to prepare and attach memo of parties with the paper book accordingly.
7. List the matter for further consideration on 28.11.2022.
8. In view of the facts and circumstance of the case, we also consider personal appearance of the Regional Officer, Jharkhand State PCB and DRM, Asansol on the next date of hearing through VC to be essential for producing the relevant documents and assisting this Tribunal in just and proper adjudication of the questions involved in the case and they are accordingly directed to remain present before this Tribunal on that date.
9. A copy of this order be forwarded to the State PCB and General Manager, Eastern Railway by email for ensuring requisite compliance Arun Kumar Tyagi, JM Dr.Afroz Ahmad, EM September 15, 2022 AG