National Green Tribunal
Ramesh Agrawal vs Ministry Of Environment Forest And ... on 3 February, 2023
Item No. 2
BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL
CENTRAL ZONE BENCH, BHOPAL
(Through Video Conferencing)
Original Application No. 72/2021 (CZ)
Ramesh Agarwal Applicant(s)
Versus
MoEF&CC & Ors Respondent(s)
Date of Hearing: 03.02.2023
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SHEO KUMAR SINGH, JUDICIAL MEMBER
HON'BLE DR. ARUN KUMAR VERMA, EXPERT MEMBER
For Applicant(s): Mr. Rahul Choudhary, Adv
For Respondent(s) : Mr. Om Shankar Shrivastava, Adv
Mr. Yadvendra Yadav, Adv
Ms. Samriddhi Sharma, Adv
Mr. Sandeep Singh Baghel, Adv
Mr. Shoeb Hasan Khan, Adv
ORDER
1. Heard the learned counsel and perused the record.
2. The issue raised in this application is non-compliance of the direction issued from the Central Pollution Control Board vide letter dated 05th February, 2014, wherein the CPCB issued directions under Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution), Act 1981 to all the State Pollution Control Boards with regard to 17 categories of highly polluting industries, Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETP), Common Bio Medical Waste and Common Hazardous Waste Incinerators, for installation of online effluent quality and emission monitoring systems in light of the order passed by Hon'ble the Supreme Court of India in Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti Vs. Union of India reported in (2017) 5 SCC 326 and liberty to private individuals and organizations to approach the Bench concerned of the jurisdictional National Green Tribunal for appropriate orders by pointing out deficiencies in the implementation of the above directions.
3. The matter was taken up by this Tribunal on 27.09.2021 and notices were issued to MPPCB RSPCB and CECB for submission of reply.
4. In compliance thereof, R-4, MPPCB has submitted the reply as follows: 1
7. That, the highly polluting industries generate pollution through emissions as well as through liquid waste which should meet the prescribed norms set by the regulatory bodies. In order to make industries realize their responsibilities towards safe environment and to bring discipline among them, installation of real-time continuous monitoring system and 'self-monitoring of compliance' scheme has been initialed by the government.
8. That, the real-time continuous monitoring system plays a significant role for environmental management by allowing accessibility of data on real- time basis. It also helps in quick analysis and instant follow-up action for better control over possible impacts on the environment. In consonance to that, Answering respondent has directed industries of the state to adopt the same as per CPCB direction.
9. That, the answering respondent, MPPCB has also established a dedicated Center 'Environment Surveillance Centre' at Bhopal headed by senior officer of MPPCB and comprising of qualified scientific and technical staff. Under this real-time monitoring programme the industries have installed real-time monitoring systems and are transmitting real-time data of ambient air quality, emission quality, effluent quality and live camera streaming to the Environment Surveillance Centre. The data is also available at the website of the Centre.
10. That, the tools used for real-time environmental monitoring to address highly polluting industries are Continuous emission monitoring systems (CEMS); Continuous ambient air quality monitoring systems (CAAQMS); for live streaming and Continuous effluent quality and flow monitoring systems (CEQMS and IP-PTZ cameras. All these systems have also been duly installed by industries and common facilities.
11. That, there are 101 industries in the state of Madhya Pradesh, falling under the 17 categories of highly polluting industries as categorized by the CPCB. There are 101 industries out of which 97 have duly complied with the directions. The remaining four industries are being persistently persuaded by MPPCB for the installation of the required 2 systems. These industries are namely, Pulp and paper manufacturing unit in the name of M/s Nepa Ltd. (which is not in operation); M/s Sap Fine Camp Ltd. (Dye and Dye intermediates) at Meghnagar (Jhabua);
Rathored Pharma at Meghnagar (Jhabua); and M/s Balaji Asteroid and Hormones Pvt. Ltd. at industrial area Pithampur (Dhar) .
12. That, there are 2l common biomedical waste treatment facilities (Hereinafter CBQWTF) out of which 20 are complying with the directions and one Sanjay Gandhi Medical college, Rewa is yet to comply for which it is being constantly persuaded by the answering respondent.
13. That, MPPCB has directed additional 107 industries which are prone to significant pollution (Crossly Polluting/ Red category industries), to adopt self- regulatory mechanism and install OCEMS at their premises for continuous vigil over pollution level. It helps in easy accessibility of data and fulfillment of the duty towards creating public awareness.
14. That, the online resources reflect data of209 industries in toto (101 industries from 17 categories of highly polluting and 107 grossly polluting/red category industries), containing data for aforementioned categories of industries. That, as alleged by the applicant in Parra 12 of the original application pertaining to the data shown on the website of OCMES as not available. The averments made by the applicant are based on one time access to the website on 10.09.2021. The data transmitted on real-time basis changes is status in regular intervals based on the Data synchronization from the Industry Logger/IoT/Black Box to MPPCB server.
15. That, the display of term 'Active' means all stations and their parameters are connected with MPPCB central server; term 'Delay' means data up-loading time is more than 15 minutes; term 'Partial active' means industry having many stations but only transmitting data from some of them and term ,Inactive, means poor internet connection/analyzer under maintenance/data logger fault/industry shutdown/industry 3 not connected lo central server/power outage etc. Hence it cannot be considered as a constant violation of direction as alleged by the applicant. As Real time monitoring has station may face limitation of internet facility at industry end for some rime.
16. That, in order to obtain the real time data. remote calibration process is also introduced by MPPCB as an innovative step. The same calibration principle method is accepted and appreciated by CPCB and it has also directed other SPCBs to follow/adopt the same. This innovative effort is made to get more accurate data lo arrive at purposeful decision.
17. That, the Draft notification for finalization of the standards for emissions based on continuous real-time monitoring systems was published on 27.10.2021 which is yet to be notified/ finalized by the CPCB. The answering respondent MPPCB has requested CPCB for the finalization of the same.
5. It is further submitted that respondent has not only taken the required steps to comply with directions issued by CPCB but also taken proactive measures by directing additional 107 grossly polluting/red category industries to comply with same real time monitoring facility for strict vigil.
6. List of 17 categories industries and 20 facility at Madhya Pradesh State has been attached as Annexure 1 and 2 with the reply as follows: 4 5 6 7 8 9
7. State of Rajasthan (State Pollution Control Board) has submitted the reply that in compliance of the directions received from CPCB vide letter dated 05.02.2014; the answering respondent had directed al1 the concerned units for installation of OCEMS. Further, to ensure compliance of Hon'ble Supreme Court order with respect to installation of Online Continuous Emission Monitoring System (OCEMS), the answering respondent had made provision for online, real time, continuous monitoring system to display emission levels, in the public domain, on the RSPCB website. Online Continuous Emission and Effluent Monitoring system (OCEMS) data is being continuously displayed on the website of\Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board, and respondent had directed all the units to transmit the raw data to both CPCB and RSPCB servers and the same data is being reflected on the RSPCB website continuously.
Answering respondent is continuously monitoring the data transmitted by the industries and is taking action against the industries whenever any deficiency is being observed and also directed all the units covered under the purview of CPCB directions i.e. 17 categories of highly polluting industries, Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETPS) and Common Bio Medical Waste and Common Hazardous Waste Incinerators to install OCEMS for both effluent and emission whichever is applicable and directed to configure it with RSPCB and CPCB server.
Installation of Online Continuous Emission Monitoring System (OCEMS), the answering respondent had made provision for online, real time, continuous monitoring system to display emission levels, in the public domain, on the RSPCB website. As per CPCB directions dated 05,02.2014, units had to install and configure OCEMS with CPCB and SPCBS till A1.03.2015, CPCB further extended the deadline till 30'06.2015 vide its letter dated 02.03.201s which was further extended till 30.09.201S. It is also submitted that the answering respondent has already submitted the details of units which have installed OCEMS and are connected to its server, further; action is being taken against all 10 those units which have not installed OCEMS or parameters as per guidelines.
8. State of Chhattisgarh has argued that the answering respondent has also complied with the order of Hon'ble Supreme Court dated 22.02.2017 in the Writ Petition no. 375 of 2012. In consonance to that, CECB has made available the list of all 17 categories of industries for general public and has also provided link along with user id and password to access the online, real time monitoring data of individual industries. This process is being made simple and user friendly so that general public can benefit more out of it.
In order to provide provision for "Online, real time, continuous monitoring system" to display emission levels in public domain on the CECB website, CECB entrusted the work of "supply, commission and maintenance of Central Server Software for real time data acquisition and handling system" to Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society (CHIPS), Chhattisgarh. CHIPS invited tender in September, 2017 and finally awarded the work for the same to M/s WEBEL Kolkata on 23/02/2018.
In the first phase of the agreement between CHIPS and M/s WEBEL Kolkata, it was required by M/s WEBEL to complete the connectivity work in 34 industries within 06 months and maintain the same for 03 years at cost approx. Rs. 6.26 crore. Pertaining to the same, CECB has also made payment for installation of server to CHIPS.
M/s WEBEL Kolkata has submitted the proposal of Rs.10,16,59,950 for installation of real time data acquisition and handling system in remaining 17 categories of industries vide letter 11/05/2020. The work has been delayed due to covid-19 pandemic and imposition of restrictions and lockdown from time to time in the state.
The work by M/s WEBEL Kolkata was not completed within the specified timeline in tender; therefore, CHIPS imposed penalty of Rs. 4,69,669.50 and deducted it from the payment made to the M/s WEBEL 11 Kolkata. CHIPS has also informed vide letter dated 04/09/2021 that due to unsatisfactory work done in the past by the M/s WEBEL Kolkata, there proposal should be rejected and fresh tendering process should be initiated for the remaining work.
Answering respondent CECB is also ensuring regular monitoring of the online data by following the aforementioned steps and informing the concerned industries time to time regarding the problems arising while viewing the online monitoring data such as network/analyser problem, non-functioning of system etc. CECB is also ensuring the necessary rectification for same to facilitate uninterrupted and regular availability of monitoring data for the general public.
Presently, there are 163 industries falling under `17 categories of industries', out of which data of 84 industries could be accessed using link of concerned industries along with user id and password to access the online, real time monitoring data in the CECB website. 09 industries are closed; hence, there data is no available. Now onwards all the portals will only be accessible through User ID and passwords of individuals (of CPCB/SPCB/TPDS/Industrv/etc) only. That means user- based system availability shall be introduced to enhance the seeuritv wherein OTP shall he generated on the provided individual user email id. Every access request will be from a registered user only. For CPCB uses. users list will be • provided by CPCB i.e. Sh. Aditya Sharma and Sh. B. V. Babu (DH-IT) only. Whenever, a login is done on TPDS Portal, an alert mail should be generated and copy should be sent to sms.cpcb(&,nic.in containing user details who has requested the access. Similar to Google mail alert system. Based on which the logs will be reviewed. Keep record of the portal accessed by the person with his name, email, and duration to which it was accessed, section of Portal accessed and IP of the machine should be recorded. Also, the purpose of accessing like which units are being seen or visited during that duration. Now onwards all departments of CPCB will also be requesting CPCB IT with individual's name and details to allow access. 12 This will be a standard procedure for providing access to any user. All TPDS will submit System logs to CPCB on every Monday 10:00 am."
In order to comply with the aforementioned direction of CPCB, 57 industries of Chhattisgarh State have provided OTP based access to the data. This system is not allowing the general public to directly access the online data. CECB is trying to resolve this issue by removing OTP based access for SPCB with the concerned industries. Copy of the letter dated 18.11.2021 sent in this regard is enclosed herewith for your kind perusal as Annexure R8/2.
The other 13 industries have analyser problem / network issue because of which their data is not accessible. CECB has directed concerned industries to rectify the above problem and ensure uninterrupted and regular availability of monitoring data.
Once the work of "supply, commission and maintenance of Central Server Software for real time data acquisition and handling system" by Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society (CHIPS), Chhattisgarh will be completed, the real time data in a harmonised format for public use will be made available on CECB website.
9. Learned counsel for the MoEF & CC has argued that the monitoring of the environmental parameters and conditions of clearance are required to be done by the State Pollution Control Boards and necessary directions have been issued.
10. The contention of the CPCB are that in the matter of Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti & Anr vs. Union of India & Ors (W.P. (C) No. 375/2012), Hon'ble Supreme Court of India has observed that it would be in the interest of implementation of the objective sought to be achieved, to also require each concerned State (and each, concerned 13 Union Territory) to make provision for online, real time, continuous monitoring system to display emission levels, in the public domain, on the portal of the concerned State Pollution Control Board. We are informed, that at least three State Governments have already adopted the aforesaid measures. Such measures shall be put in place by all the concerned State Governments (including, the concerned Union Territories), within six months from today.
11. The matter regarding display of Online Continuous Effluent/Emissions Monitoring System data in public domain by SPCBs/PCCs was further followed up by CPCB and the status of availability of data in public domain reflects that Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board is displaying OCEMS data in public domain vide web-link- http://esc.mp. Gov.in/online. Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board has not provided dedicated webpage for OCEMS data display. Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board is not displaying OCEMS data in public domain.
12. In compliance of the order dated 01.02.2022, the CPCB issued a letter dated 25.02.2022, to CECB for compliance and monitoring the matter.
13. Further Action Taken Report was called from State of Rajasthan and vide report dated 11.03.2022 following status has been filed:
1. As on date, out of the 190 units (United Spirits Ltd., Udaipur is being removed as it is not in operation since July 2019 for grain distillery instead is engaged in IMFL bottling activity only and new industry got configured i.e., RJ industries on 09.02.2022) of 17 category of highly polluting industries and 22 CTDF (2 nw CBWTDFs got configured i.e., E tech Naguar & E tech Dungarpur on 25.01.2022 and 03.12.2021 respectively), 186 and 20 units are configured with State Board's OCEMS Portal respectively.
2. Out of 186 configured units of 17 category of highly polluting industries, 159 units are transmitting data as per CPCB guidelines, 20 units are not transmitting data and the remaining 7 units are in 14 shut down and out of the 20 configured CTDF units, 8 are transmitting data and the remaining 12 are not transmitting as per CPCB guidelines. The State Board takes appropriate action against the defaulter unites on the baiss of non-compliacne by the units as and when required.
3. Earlier, only the current OCEMS data was being displayed in the RSPCB website in an auto scroll manner whereas to make it user friendly, the State Board has made updation in the RSPCB website. And presently Unit wise Real time OCEMS data and historical data are available under the Online Continuous monitoring page on RSPCB website.
4. Presently, around 20 vendors are transmitting OCEMS data for the units under the jurisdiction of Rajasthan which are as follows:
1. STEAM 2. Indexel
3. SWAN 4. CHEMTROLS
5. Glens 6. Aaxis Nano Pvt Ltd.
7. Nevco Engineers 8. Xylem
9. Forbes 10. Hitech
11. AICPL 12. Envirozon
13. Yokogawa 14. Lab Systems
15. Sick India 16. Nimbus
17. Unitech 18. DNP
19. Shreetech 20. Thermofisher
5. Sometimes there is a halt in data transmission due to the following reason:
Issues in the unit's analyser.
Some communication issues/gap Server issues either from the Baord's end or sometime from the Industry's end.
14. Learned counsel for the Applicant has argued that Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti v. Union of India, 2017 (5) SCC 326 has directed that liberty is granted to private individuals and organizations to approach the bench concern of the jurisdiction National Green Tribunal for appropriate orders by pointing out deficiencies in implementation of the above direction and in compliance thereof, the application has been filed and in response thereof the CPCB has 15 submitted the compliance report, that the data submitted by the CECB are not displaying properly in the public domain.
15. In response to the above, CECB has submitted that presently there are a total of seventeen (17) types of polluting industries under which the online data of emissions from 167 (one hundred and sixty-seven) industries is regularly updated on the CECB website. That as of 27.07.2022, out of the aforementioned 167, regular emissions data is regularly updated and uploaded by 136 (one hundred and thirty-six) industries, 16 (sixteen) industries are temporarily closed thus neither data is received nor updated, and the data from 15 (fifteen) industries is not received due to technical/network issues and directions have been issued to the aforementioned 15 industries to ensure that regular data of emissions be sent to CECB.
In order to ensure that Online Continuous Emission Monitoring System (OCEMS) is user friendly, CECB awarded the Tender in favour of M/s West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Limited, Kolkata (WEBEL) to use CHIPS in order to enhance the Client - Server System and Real Time Data Acquisition and Handling of CAAQMS/CEMS/EQMS. It is also pertinent to note that M/s WEBEL as part of Phase - I, has connected 468 analysers to Internet of Things (IoT) devices for a total of 32 industries.
M/s WEBEL, Kolkata has put forward a quotation of Rs. 10,16,59,950/- (ten crore, sixteen lakhs, fifty-nine thousand and nine hundred and fifty only) for Phase - II works, and the same is being reviewed by International Institute of Information Technology, Naya Raipur (I.I.I.T).
The quotation proposed by M/s WEBEL, Kolkata was considered to be both technically and financially reasonable and on the basis of the report presented by I.I.I.T. Naya Raipur, and that after the completion of Phase - II works, real time emission data of all the industries will be uploaded on the CECB website.
16
CECB have taken the required steps to comply with the directions passed by this Hon'ble Tribunal and are further taking efforts to make the system more user friendly and up to date with real time emission reports.
16. Further Action Taken Report filed on 09.09.2022 by the State Pollution Control Board reveals that:
(a) That the number of industries within the State of Madhya Pradesh, which have adopted RTM Protocols have risen, and a total of 229 industries/facilities have installed Real- Time Environment Monitoring Systems.
(b) That a total of 101 industries have been under 17 categories of highly polluting industries, whereas a total of
17 Common Bio-Medical Treatment Facilities, 02 Common Effluent Treatment Plants, 01 Common Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility, and 01 Common Municipal Waste Treatment Facility. It is also pertinent to note that apart from the abovementioned industries, a total of 107 other industries have also adopted RTM Mechanism under 'Self- Monitoring of Compliance Scheme'.
(c) That a total of 363 CEMS, 148 CAAQMS, 68 CEQMS, 225 IP-PTZ Camera, 84 Flow Meters and other RTM Equipment have been installed in the State of Madhya Pradesh till 31.08.2022.
17. The CECB, Respondent No. 8 vide status report filed on 20.11.2022 reveals that:
(i) Presently there are a total of 167 types of polluting industries.
The online data of emissions from these industries is displayed on the CECB website. That as of 09.09.2022, out if the aforementioned 167, emissions data is regularly received from 125 industries are temporarily closed thus no data is received, and the data from 15 industries is not received due to technical/network issues and directions have been issued to the aforementioned 15 industries to rectify the defect so as to ensure that regular data of emissions be sent to CECB. 17
(ii) To make this system more user friendly, CECB had instructed the work of supply, commission and maintenance of real time data acquisition and handling of CAAQMS/CEMS/EQMS data through client-server system for industries to Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society (CHIPS) Raipur. CHIPS Raipur has entered into master service agreement with M/s WEBEL, Kolkata. It is also pertinent to note that M/s WEBEL as part of Phase-I ha connected 468 analysers to Internet of things devices for a total of 31 industries and have successfully completed Phase-I work. Certificate of successful completion of User Acceptance Test has been issued by CECB to M/s WEBEL on 26.08.2022
(iii) CECB has asked IIT Raipur to evaluate the proposal submitted by M/s. WEBEL, Kolkata for 1500 nos of analysers in Phase-II. The proposal submitted by M/s WEBEL, Kolkata was considered justifiable as per the report presented by I.I.I.T Raipur and CECB has requested CHIPS to consider above proposals vide letter dated 20/09/2022 and again requested to expedite the same vide letter dated 11/11/2022.
(iv) It is also pertinent to note that after the completion of Phase-II works, real time emission data of all the Industries will be displayed on the CECB website in more user friendly manner.
(v) That CECB have taken the required steps to comply with the directions passed this Hon'ble Tribunal and are further taking efforts to make the system more user friendly and up to date with real time emission reports.
18. The status of the OCEMS portals at the time of hearing as placed by the Applicant is as follows:
Resp State Website link Remarks/present status no of the OCEMS portal 4th MPPCB http://www.mppcb.nic.in/ The website is showing list of industries. Some of the industries only 18 monitor the emission from the stack and not effluents.
Historic data of more
than one year of some
industries are not
available
6th RSPCB https://environment.rajasthan.gov. The website is working
in/content/environment/en/rajastha Historic data is available
n It is password protected
-state-pollution-cntrol-
board/onlinemonitoringofindustries.h
tml
8th CECB https;//enviscecb.org/industry_list_z The website is active.
CEMS_Stations.htm Each industry has a
separate portal which has
to be logged in using the
user id and password
given in the website
It is not user friendly
Historic data of most of
the industries is not
available.
19. Learned counsel for the CECB has submitted that after completion of phase-2 work real time emission data of all the industries will be displayed on the CECB website in more user friendly manner, and the IIIT, Raipur is considering and monitoring the system and it will be completed within a short time.
20. In view of the above facts, the conclusions and directions are as follows:
(i) State of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are directed to install and upload on their website a proper and effective Online Continuous Emissions Monitoring System, which is easily accessible to the public and to ensure that raw data is made available in a harmonized format for public use and to ensure that historic data is also made available for public use in raw and harmonized formats.
(ii) Station specific coordinates should be made available specially to understand the efficacy of monitors vis-a-vis pollution sources since such data can also help pollution impacted 19 communities guide decision makers in future placement of air quality infrastructure and CPCB to prepare a central repository of OCEMS data from all states and host the same on its website as the same would be useful in developing national/regional policies on air quality in industrial areas, especially critically polluted areas.
21. The state of Chhattisgarh is further directed to complete the process to make the website more user friendly within 60 days.
22. With the above observations and directions, the application stands disposed of.
Sheo Kumar Singh, JM Dr. Arun Kumar Verma, EM 03rd February, 2023 O.A No. 72/2021 (CZ) PU 20