National Green Tribunal
S. Paul Raj S/O Mr.Silvester vs The Commissioner on 31 January, 2024
Author: K. Satyagopal
Bench: K. Satyagopal
Item No.1 (i) & (ii):-
BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL
SOUTHERN ZONE, CHENNAI
Dated this the 31st day of January, 2024.
(Through Video Conference)
Original Application No.50 of 2016 (SZ)
With
Appeal No.57 of 2021 (SZ)
IN THE MATTER OF
O.A. No.50 of 2016 (SZ):
S. Paul Raj
S/o. Silverster,
1-C Kombuthurai,
Kayalpattinam, Thiruchenthur Taluk.
...Applicant (s)
Versus
1) The Commissioner
Kayalpattinam Municipality
Kayalpattinam,
Thiruchenthur Taluk, Tuticorin District.
2) The District Environmental Engineer
Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board
C7 and C9, SIPCOT Industrial Complex,
Meelavittan, Tuticorin District.
3) Director of Municipal Administration
No.78, Urban Administrative Building,
Santhome High Road,
Chennai - 600 028.
(R3 Impleaded as per Order dated 29.08.2022)
...Respondent(s)
Appeal No.57 of 2021 (SZ):
The Commissioner
Kayalpattinam Municipality
Municipal Office
49, Mutharamman Kovil Street,
Kayalpattinam, Thiruchendur Taluk,
Thoothukudi District - 628 204.
...Appellant(s)
Versus
1) The Chairman
Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board
No.76, Mount Salai, Guindy,
Chennai - 600 032.
Page 1 of 11
2) The District Environmental Engineer
Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board
C7 and C9, SIPCOT Industrial Complex,
Meelavattan, Tuticorin District.
3) Director of Municipal Administration
No.78, Urban Administrative Building,
Santhome High Road,
Chennai - 600 028.
(R3 Impleaded as per Order dated 29.08.2022)
...Respondent(s)
O.A. No.50/2016 (SZ):
For Applicant(s): Mr. A. Yogeshwaran.
For Respondent(s): Mr. S. Saravanan and E. Karthikeyan for R1.
Mr. S. Sai Sathya Jith for R2.
Dr. D. Shanmuganathan for R3.
Appeal No.57/2021 (SZ):
For Appellant (s): Mr. S. Saravanan and E. Karthikeyan.
For Respondent(s): Mr. S. Sai Sathya Jith for R1 & R2.
Dr. D. Shanmuganathan for R3.
Judgment Reserved on: 04th January, 2024.
CORAM:
HON'BLE SMT. JUSTICE PUSHPA SATHYANARAYANA, JUDICIAL MEMBER
HON'BLE DR. SATYAGOPAL KORLAPATI, EXPERT MEMBER
JUDGEMENT
Delivered by Smt. Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana, Judicial Member.
1. The applicant, who aggrieved by the illegal and unscientific dumping of waste by the 1st Respondent / Kayalpattinam Municipality in Sy. No.278/1B of Kayalpattinam South Village, has filed the above application complaining about the complete contravention of the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 (hereinafter referred to as 'MSW Rules, 2000'), Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
Page 2 of 112. The Kayalpattinam Municipality has started dumping in Sy. No.278/1B without properly establishing a facility to process the waste, resulting in contamination of the soil, groundwater and also other health hazards due to flies and mosquitoes bred from the waste. As per the MSW Rules, 2000, no waste can be disposed of without establishing a facility as per the rules. Therefore, the applicant alleged that the Kayalpattinam Municipality had not obtained permission under the MSW Rules, 2000 and not established any landfill facility or compost facility in accordance with the rules and has been dumping unsegregated waste at the site comprised in Sy. No.278/1B of Kayalpattinam Village, for which, it has got no right.
3. Hence, the applicant has sought for an injunction restraining the Kayalpattinam Municipality from dumping the waste at the site comprised in Sy. No.278/1B of Kayalpattinam South Village without complying with the mandatory requirement of the MSW Rules, 2000, Water Act, 1974 and the Air Act, 1981 and directed them to remove the waste illegally dumped at the site.
4. It appears that the application originally was filed on 26.02.2016 when the MSW Rules, 2000 was in force. Thereafter, the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 (hereinafter referred to as 'SWM Rules, 2016'), came into effect on 08.04.2016 superseding the MSW Rules, 2000 except with respect to things done or omitted to be done before such supersession.
5. After the coming into force of this SWM Rules, 2016 on 08.04.2016, the duties and responsibilities of the local authorities as prescribed under Rule 15 have to be followed in the manner provided for. Rule 15 (v) mandates the local authorities and panchayats to "facilitate construction, operation and maintenance of solid waste processing facilities and associated infrastructure on their own or with private sector participation or through any agency for optimum utilization of various components of solid waste adopting suitable technology including the following technologies and adhering to the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Urban Development from Page 3 of 11 time to time and standards prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board."
6. The above said rule also elaborately describes the duties and responsibilities of the urban local bodies. The issue for consideration is whether the Kayalpattinam Municipality has followed either the MSW Rules, 2000 or the SWM Rules, 2016.
7. Originally, the 1st Respondent (Kayalpattinam Municipality) had filed a reply stating that the Municipality as per the census of the year 2011 had a population of 40,542 and a total radius of 12.50 Sq.Km. The solid waste generation in the Municipality is 12 Tonnes/day, in which, up to 8 Tonnes is biodegradable waste and hence, it is just and necessary to establish a Municipal Solid Waste Management for treating the same as per the rules. Admittedly, for the last fifty years, the Municipality is dumped the mixed waste in the nearby habitation places at Paparapalli creating pollution to the environment. As there was no proper Solid Waste Management site, the Government of Tamil Nadu had allotted Rs.5 Lakhs for the purchase of suitable land to set up a compost yard in the year 2006 and in the year 2012, the Municipality was allotted with Rs.90 Lakhs to process the biodegradable waste for power generation and for production of organic manure as byproduct. The Regional Executive Engineer inspected the land and suggested that an extent of 4.5 Acres in Sy. No.278/1B of Kayalpattinam South Village is suitable land for setting up a biomethanization plant. Thereafter, the Municipality also obtained a revenue patta in their name and applied for authorization under the MSW Rules, 2000 for establishing Municipal Solid Waste Processing Facility. The authorization for the Municipal Solid Waste Processing Facility to convert waste into manure was issued by the Joint Chief Environmental Engineer on 25.05.2015. The Municipality is also in the process of setting up a biomethanization plant to utilize biodegradable waste and in respect of remaining waste, a DPR is prepared for its utilization. As per the DPR, the Municipality is proposed to set up (1) To create segregation machineries, (2) Cement platform for landfill site, (3) Construction of proper compound wall and Page 4 of 11 gate and (4) Pollution warning system. According to the Municipality, the waste is not being dumped in the site in question but they are segregating this to demo run the biomethanization plant. The Municipality has stated further that there is no land other than this site to process the Municipal Solid Waste. Once the biomethanization plant and DPR works are being operated, the entire project work will be completed as per the Rules, for which, six month period was originally sought for in the year 2016.
8. A rejoinder was filed by the applicant, wherein he stated that Sy. No.278/1B, for which, authorization was sought for from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board. The authorization for processing the solid waste was issued on 25.05.2015 with validity up to 31.03.2016. Thereafter, the authorization was neither renewed nor extended. It is also not possible to renew the expired authorization and the Kayalpattinam Municipality ought to apply and obtain the requisite authorization. The 2nd Respondent cannot seek to renew the stale claims which expired as early as on 31.03.2016. So far as the biomethanization plant is concerned, the Consent to Establish was issued on 24.06.2015 which was valid up to 23.06.2017. According to the applicant, the biomethanization plant was to be set up in 0.3 Acres and not in the extent of 4.5 Acres.
9. In the meanwhile, a Joint Committee was constituted by this Tribunal comprising (i) Revenue Divisional Officer - Tiruchendur, (ii) District Environmental Engineer - Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, Thoothukudi and (iii) Commissioner - Kayalpattinam Municipality. The said committee visited the Kayalpattinam Municipality, solid waste processing sites and existing dumping sites on 18.08.2020 and submitted a report along with the action taken by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board to impose environmental compensation for non- compliance with the SWM Rules, 2016.
Page 5 of 1110. The Joint Committee has observed that the Kayalpattinam Municipality is a second-grade municipality having a population of 55,450 with 18 Wards. The total municipal waste generation is about 14.00 MT/day including biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste. Out of this, 10.5 MT is biodegradable waste. For processing the biodegradable waste, the Municipality has provided 2 No. of MCCs of each 3 MT/day capacity and 1 No. of Onsite Composting Centre (OCC) of 0.5 MT/day capacity. Apart from this, the Municipality has provided 1 No. of biomethanization - cum - power generation plant for processing the biodegradable waste. As on date, for MCC - 1 and MCC - 2, authorizations have been granted to operate by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board on 22.04.2019. The Onsite Composting Centre is located inside the Kayalpattinam Municipality in S.F. No.437 and the maximum processing capacity of this OCC is 0.50 MT/day. At this OCC, only the segregated biodegradable wastes are brought for composting. No plastic wastes are brought into this facility. This OCC is also given the authorization on 22.04.2019. The biomethanization - cum - power generation plant which was installed by the Municipality of 300 M3 (5 MT) capacity for treating the biodegradable waste and producing electricity from it. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board granted Consent for Establishment for the biomethanization - cum - power generation plant on 24.06.2015. However, the Municipality is yet to apply for the Consent to Operate since they could not put the plant into regular operation due to technical problems.
11. The Joint Committee which inspected the area in question had imposed environmental compensation for the violation on the Municipality for non-compliance. Accordingly, the violations were noted in the presence of the Commissioner - Kayalpattinam Municipality for the non-compliance of more than ten conditions and levied an interim environmental compensation of Rs.14 Lakhs. As the compensation was arrived at by the Joint Committee, in which, the Commissioner - Municipality was also a party, a notice was issued under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 without the show cause notice. The said order was appealed by the Municipality in Appeal No.57 of Page 6 of 11 2021 (SZ). In the said appeal, an interim order dated 29.11.2022 was passed directing the Municipality to pay the amount at least in instalments as per the schedule that may be furnished by the Municipality. However, without complying with the said order, the Kayalpattinam Municipality/Appellant herein had preferred W.P. (MD) No.16 of 2023 [The Commissioner, Kayalpattinam Municipality Vs. The Chairman, TNPCB & Ors.] wherein, the Hon'ble High Court of Madras at Madurai Bench had directed the Municipality to deposit Rs.5 Lakhs as conditional order of stay. As already the Hon'ble High Court of Madras is seized of the matter, it would be appropriate for this Tribunal not to decide the correctness of the impugned order in the appeal. However, the levy of environmental compensation is only an interim one and the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board is yet to arrive at a final compensation that may be payable by the Municipality for the violations and the non-compliance of the SWM Rules, 2016.
12. The Municipal Solid Waste generation is an everyday affair and admittedly, 14.00 MT/day is being generated by the Kayalpattinam Municipality, of which, 10.5 MT is biodegradable waste. In spite of the fact that the matter is pending before this Tribunal from the year 2016, there has been no progress shown by the Kayalpattinam Municipality.
13. It is evident from the fact that a letter has been addressed by the Commissioner - Kayalpattinam Municipality to the Tahsildar - Tiruchendur dated 11.04.2023, requesting for allotment of land belonging to the Government for the purpose of setting up of MCC, biomethanization plant. The Chairman of the Kayalpattinam Municipality also in its letter dated 06.12.2023 addressed to the District Collector for the allotment of 12 Acres of land in Sy. No.111/3 for the purpose of solid waste management. It is surprising that even after the matter is being monitored by this Tribunal and already, there were several cases directing the local authorities to take appropriate action, the Municipality has been very lethargic in its attitude in dealing with this important and sensitive issue. Earlier also, this Tribunal had directed the local authorities to approach the Chief Secretary to Page 7 of 11 Government in the event of any difficulty of this nature. However, the Kayalpattinam Municipality which is the Government body responsible for improving and maintaining the clean environment did not even care to acquire land authorized for the specific purpose.
14. The Municipality plays a vital role in the segregation of waste, its collection and handling. It has to create awareness among the citizens about their rights and responsibilities towards solid waste and the cleanliness of their town.
15. In the instant case, only in December 2023, the Kayalpattinam Municipality has sought for allotment of land for Solid Waste Management. If the mixed waste is dumped in landfills due to lack of infrastructure and poor enforcement of laws, waste piles up on streets, in vacant sites and drains as complained in the application. Later segregation has to be done under unsafe and hazardous conditions posing health hazards. While segregation of waste is the major challenge, financial constraint is the next major issue. Considering the fact that the Kayalpattinam Municipality has less than a lakh population and having received the complaint as early as in the year 2016 by filing this application, it should have had a holistic waste management plan. Even in 2024, it is complained about not having access to facilities of waste pick up from locality or door- to-door. The rapid increase in waste generation demands for a renewed attention to the increasing problem of municipal solid waste management. Even though it is imperative to derive a policy and strategy to structure the solid waste management systems in a sustainable manner, unless the waste management hierarchy aims to reduce the amount of waste being disposed of along with maximising recovery of resources, it would be difficult to implement successfully. The importance of reduce, reuse, recycle and recover approach needs no emphasis and unless such an approach is adopted, the waste management becomes a challenge.
Page 8 of 1116. In normal circumstances, dumping of municipal solid waste anywhere can be effectively tackled, if penal action is initiated against the violators. Ironically, here the local authority i.e. Kayalpattinam Municipality is yet to procure a land from the Government and set up the processing centre for bio-mining etc. Therefore, it would be appropriate for the Kayalpattinam Municipality to get the land allotted to develop plans and strategies of waste management.
17. The Kayalpattinam Municipality cannot split the micro-compost yards to bring them down below the threshold level which requires prior consent from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, if those facilities are located within the same survey number, as in the case of Sy. No.278/1B or even if they are located in adjoining survey numbers. Such units will have to be treated together and subject to consent mechanism as stipulated in rules and regulations. They shall make necessary application to the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board within 15 (Fifteen) days from the date of this order.
18. In case the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board finds the location of the solid waste management facility in Sy. No.278/1B as unsuitable, then the Kayalpattinam Municipality shall remove the already dumped solid waste and send it to the location where they can secure consent from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board.
19. After considering reports filed both in the Original Application and the Appeal and taking into account the contentions of the applicant in O.A. No.50 of 2016 (SZ), the following directions are issued:-
i. The District Collector - Thoothukudi is directed to identify and allot suitable land for managing solid waste in a scientific manner and in consonance with the rules in force.
ii. The Kayalpattinam Municipality shall comply with the provisions of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 and shall comply with the orders Page 9 of 11 passed by the Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal, New Delhi in O.A. No.606 of 2018 (PB) from time to time.
iii. The Kayalpattinam Municipality shall submit an application to the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board within 15 (Fifteen) days from the date of this order to secure necessary consent for the Solid Waste Management Facility.
iv. The Kayalpattinam Municipality shall ensure 100% door-to-door collection of municipal solid waste and also ensure that the waste is segregated at the source.
v. The Kayalpattinam Municipality shall ensure that the municipal solid wastes are not burnt and non- biodegradable waste shall be subject to reuse, recycling or disposal of the recovered useful materials to relevant parties.
vi. The Kayalpattinam Municipality shall provide adequate number of CCTV cameras in the solid waste management facility and also install adequate number of water sprinkler arrangements and water supply lines in and around the solid waste management facility to avoid burning of the waste.
vii. The Kayalpattinam Municipality shall ensure that the legacy waste is bio-mined at the earliest by increasing the capacity of the existing facilities if required.
viii. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board is directed to levy further environmental compensation for the violations already noticed, taking into account the orders of the Hon'ble High Court of Madras at Madurai Bench in W.P. (MD) No.16 of 2023 and WMP (MD) No.33 of 2023 [The Commissioner, Page 10 of 11 Kayalpattinam Municipality Vs. The Chairman, TNPCB & Ors.] in this regard.
ix. With reference to Appeal No.57 of 2021 (SZ), in as much as the Hon'ble High Court of Madras at Madurai Bench has granted an interim stay vide Order dated 03.01.2023 in W.P. (MD) No.16 of 2023 and WMP (MD) No.33 of 2023, the appeal is closed with liberty for the appellant to approach this Tribunal, if need be, subsequent to the final orders of the Hon'ble High Court of Madras at Madurai Bench in the above-mentioned writ petition subject to limitation and maintainability.
20. In view of the above, the original application [O.A. No.50 of 2016 (SZ)] is disposed of and the appeal [Appeal No.57 of 2021 (SZ)] is closed accordingly.
Sd/-
Smt. Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana, JM Sd/-
Dr. Satyagopal Korlapati, EM Internet - Yes/No All India NGT Reporter - Yes/No O.A. No.50/2016 (SZ) & Appeal No.57/2021 (SZ) 31st January, 2024. Mn.
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