National Green Tribunal
National Green Tribunal Southern Zone vs The Chief Secretary Government Of ... on 13 August, 2021
Bench: K Ramakrishnan, K. Satyagopal
Item No.6:
BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL
SOUTHERN ZONE, CHENNAI
Original Application No. 71 of 2021 (SZ)
(Through Video Conference)
IN THE MATTER OF
Tribunal on its own motion SUO MOTU based
On the News item in The New Indian Express Newspaper,
Dated 10.02.2021, "Oil leak from titanium factory hits
Thiruvananthapuram coast, public barred from affected stretch"and
News item in the Hindu, dated: 10.02.2021,
"Furnace oil from Titanium Factory spills into sea" and
News item in Mathrubhumi, English Edition Dt. 10.02.2021,
"Glass furnace pipe bursts at Titanium factory in TVM, oil leaked to sea".
...Applicant(s)
Versus
The Chief Secretary,
Government of Kerala,
Thiruvananthapuram and others.
...Respondent(s)
Date of hearing: 13.08.2021.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K. RAMAKRISHNAN, JUDICIAL MEMBER
HON'BLE MR. Dr. K. SATYAGOPAL, EXPERT MEMBER
For Applicant(s): Suo Motu by Court.
For Respondent(s): Mr. Sarathbabu represented
Mr. E.K. Kumaresan for R1 to R4, R7, R8.
Mrs. V.K. Rema Smrithi for R5, R6.
Mrs. D. Kamachi for R9.
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Mr. S. Vishnu represented
M/s. Latha Anand for R10.
Mr. R. Thirunavukarasu for CPCB.
ORDER
1. The above case has been Suo Motu registered by this Tribunal on the basis of the newspaper report published in The New Indian Express dated 10.02.2021, under the caption "Oil leak from titanium factory hits Thiruvananthapuram coast, public barred from affected stretch"
and in The Hindu dated 10.02.2021, under the caption "Furnace oil from Titanium factory spills into sea" and also in Mathrubumi, English Edition dated 10.02.2021, under the caption "Glass furnace pipe bursts at Titanium factory in TVM, oil leaked to sea" and this Tribunal had admitted the matter and appointed a Joint Committee to go into the question and posted the case to 06.04.2021 for appearance of parties, submitting independent response and also for consideration of report.
2. Thereafter, on 09.06.2021, this Tribunal had considered the action taken report submitted by the Additional Chief Secretary to Government, Environment Department dated 05.04.2021 extracted in Para 3 of the order and also considered the report submitted by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board dated 07.06.2021 extracted in Para 6 of the order and then, passed the following order:-
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"7. It is mentioned in Para 10 of the report submitted by the Pollution Control Board that TTPL authorities informed on 01.03.2021 that the furnace soil contaminated sand and other waste materials had been completely removed from the drain discharge point.
8. It is also mentioned in the report that on the basis of the request made by the TTPL for permission to operate, they inspected the area and verified the compliance and it was revealed that 22.270 T of oil contaminated sand and 36.13 T of oil contaminated ilmenite sludge were, seems to be, handed over the KEIL. They were monitoring the trial run and permission has been granted to the 10th respondent unit to have a production in a reduced rate and now they are discharging the treated effluents within their premises itself and no permission has been granted to discharge the same into the public drain.
9. The committee has not filed the report so far. Without getting the committee report, it is not possible for this Tribunal to ascertain the nature of damage caused to the environment, as even from the report submitted by the Industries Department that those things can be assessed only after getting soil analysis report etc.
10. The Coastal Zone Management Authority has also not filed their statement so far.
11. When this was pointed out, the learned counsel appearing for the Coastal Zone Management Authority wanted some more time to file the statement.
12. The Fisheries Department and other departments are also expected to file their independent reports regarding the nature of damage, if any, caused on account of the oil spillage, as it revealed from the statement filed by the Additional Chief Secretary to Government, Environment Department that further studies will have to be done by respective departments as well. None of the report shows as to whether the joint committee had conducted the inspection or not.
13. So under such circumstances, we direct the joint committee to conduct the inspection immediately, otherwise, the purpose of appointment itself will be defeated, if there was inordinate delay in conducting the inspection, as the traces of damage, if any, caused to the soil or sea will be disappear due to lapse of time.
14. The committee is directed to conduct the inspection immediately and submit a report as directed. The Integrated Regional Office, Central Pollution Control Board, Bangalore is the nodal agency and they are expected to act swiftly when such incidents were brought to their notice. The order of appointing the committee was made on 17.02.2021. At that time, there was no restriction of lockdown or movement restriction and they could have made the inspection and submitted the report.Page 3 of 6
15. The 10th respondent also wanted time to submit their independent statement regarding the incident and nature of action taken from their side to mitigate the issue.
16. The committee as well as the other respondents are directed to submit their respective reports and reply statements respectively to this Tribunal on or before 16.07.2021 by e-filing in the form of Searchable PDF/OCR Supportable PDF and not in the form of Image PDF along with necessary hardcopies to be produced as per Rules.
17. The Registry is directed to communicate this order to the members of the committee, especially to the Integrated Regional Office, CPCB, Bangalore so as to enable them to comply with the direction and conduct inspection as directed at the earliest possible and submit a report to this Tribunal."
3. The case was posted to 16.07.2021 for completion of pleadings and also for submission of report. On 09.07.2021, it was pointed out that there was a mistake in constitution of committee where instead of Kerala State Coastal Zone Management Authority, it was wrongly mentioned as Tamil Nadu State Coastal Zone Management Authority and that mistake was corrected and at the request of the parties, the matter has been adjourned to 16.07.2021 for filing the report. On 16.07.2021, it was adjourned to today by notification.
4. When the matter came up for hearing today through Video Conference, Mr. Sarathbabu represented Mr. E.K. Kumaresan for respondents 1 to 4, 7 & 8, Mrs. V.K. Rema Smrithi represented respondents 5 & 6, Mrs. D. Kamachi represented 9th respondent, Mr. S. Vishnu represented M/s. Latha Anand for 10th respondent and Mr. R. Thirunavukarasu represented Central Pollution Control Board. Page 4 of 6
5. The learned counsel appearing for the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) submitted that they wanted atleast four weeks time, as they were awaiting the analysis report from the laboratory and only on that basis, they may be able to assess the environmental compensation and also suggest the necessary remedial measures to be taken to address the issue.
6. The learned counsel appearing for the State departments also wanted to file independent statement to the allegations made in the newspaper report and also wanted to apprise this Tribunal regarding the steps taken by them in respect of this incident, for which, they required some more time.
7. The District Collector has filed a report stating that he had joined the committee and co-operating with the committee without giving reason as to why he did not participate in the inspection earlier, though intimation regarding the same had given to him.
8. The Committee as well as the respondents are directed to file the report as well as independent response respectively before this Tribunal on or before 16.09.2021 by e-filing in the form of Searchable PDF/OCR Supportable PDF and not in the form of Image PDF along with necessary hardcopies to be produced as per Rules. Page 5 of 6
9. The Registry is directed to communicate this order to the members of the committee and also to the official respondents by e-mail immediately so as to enable them to comply with the direction.
10. For consideration of further report and completion of pleadings, post on 16.09.2021.
Sd/-
..........................................J.M. (Justice K. Ramakrishnan) Sd/-
.................................E.M. (Dr. K. Satyagopal) O.A. No.71/2021 (SZ) 13th August, 2021. Mn.
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