Latest news with #Environment(Protection)Rules
The Hindu
23-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Supreme Court issues notice to Centre, Madhya Pradesh on plea against 237 ‘illegal' environmental clearances by SEIAA member-secretary
The Supreme Court on Wednesday (July 23, 2025) decided to hear a petition seeking a declaration that 237 environmental clearances granted by the member-secretary of the Madhya Pradesh State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) are illegal and in systemic violation of the environmental laws. A three-judge Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai issued notice to the Union Government, the State, the SEIAA Chairman, and the member-secretary, Principal Secretary of the State Environment Department. The petitioner, Vijay Kumar Das, a Hindi newspaper publisher, has arraigned the Central Bureau of Investigation too as a respondent. The notices are returnable in two weeks. Mr. Das, represented by senior advocate Vivek Tankha and advocate Sumeer Sodhi, said the clearances were given unilaterally, without convening the mandatory SEIAA meetings and in breach of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986; and the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2006. The petition alleged that the clearances were the result of a deliberate strategy to bypass the collective decision-making process mandated by the law, and exploited the 'deemed approval' provisions after letting statutory periods lapse. It said that there was no properly constituted SEIAA or SEAC (State Expert Appraisal Committee) between June 11, 2024, to January 6, 2025. A new SEIAA was constituted on January 7 this year. The violations, it was alleged, began from May 23 this year when the first environmental clearance was issued unilaterally by the member-secretary without any SEIAA meeting. The petition said multiple clearances were issued in just one day, May 24, demonstrating the premeditated nature of the alleged violations. 'Despite the chairman of SEIAA writing almost 48 representations between April-June 2025 to prevent these illegal actions, addressed to various authorities including the Member Secretary, Principal Secretary, Chief Secretary, and Union of India, the systematic violations continued unabated. The authorities have turned a blind eye to these representations, which demonstrates not merely administrative negligence but willfull and deliberate facilitation of environmental crimes at the highest levels of the State government,' the petition said. It said the case was a 'classic example' of Secretaries and senior officials abusing their positions for ulterior motives, including personal gains, by facilitating illegal environmental clearances for mining lobbies and industrial interests. 'The member-secretary acted in active collusion with the principal secretary, department of environment, and other public officials, orchestrating a prolonged non-convening of SEIAA meetings with the calculated intention of allowing the statutory period for appraisal to lapse,' the petition argued.
Indian Express
04-07-2025
- General
- Indian Express
After protests, Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board orders closure of incinerator in eco-sensitive zone near Gangotri
Days after Gangotri residents protested against its establishment, the Uttarakhand's State Pollution Control Board has ordered the closure of an incinerator set up by the state tourism department in the eco-sensitive zone. The unit was found to have violated the provisions under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, and for operating in the Bhagirathi Eco Sensitive Zone without obtaining a consent to operate. It was also found that it had no proper monitoring facilities, a logbook of operations, or a disposal of waste generated from the process, said the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Body. The residents, part of the collective Himalayi Nagarik Drishti Manch, had written to authorities, stating that the incinerator was burning mixed solid waste disposed of in the area, causing emissions. Such units are required to obtain a Consent to Establish and Consent to Operate certificate from the State Pollution Control Board, and they are mandated to keep their effluent quality within the specified norms as specified under the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986. The Gangotri unit processes one tonne of solid waste every day. Moreover, the unit was set up in the Bhagirathi Eco Sensitive Zone, an area in which every activity is monitored and regulated by a committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary of the state. The incinerator was permitted by the committee last year and was set up by the Ministry of Tourism under the PRASAD Scheme (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive). Officials from the state and Central Pollution Control Body visited the facility on June 24 and found that the Uttarkashi District Tourism Development Officer had not obtained a Consolidated Consent and Authorisation (CCA) under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and authorisation under the Hazardous and other wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016. Though the unit representative said that it processes one tonne of solid waste every day, they could not provide a logbook record. Similarly, the unit representative said the ash generation is negligible and it is kept on the premises, but there was no record of the ash generation, the pollution control body said. The unit also did not maintain records for plastic waste collection. The pollution control bodies also recommended that the facility obtain necessary permissions, including a Consent to Operate from the UKPCB. Following a letter from residents of Uttarkashi to authorities regarding the operation of the unit at Bhagirathi Eco Sensitive Zone, the Uttarkashi DM had said that the unit is a zero-emission system with a solar-powered furnace and operates through a programmed oxygenation plasma technology. He also said that the waste is processed without any combustion or involvement of water or other moving parts. However, according to CPCB guidelines, incinerators have a pollution index of 100 and fall under the red category. Aiswarya Raj is a correspondent with The Indian Express who covers South Haryana. An alumna of Asian College of Journalism and the University of Kerala, she started her career at The Indian Express as a sub-editor in the Delhi city team. In her current position, she reports from Gurgaon and covers the neighbouring districts. She likes to tell stories of people and hopes to find moorings in narrative journalism. ... Read More
The Hindu
23-06-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Faecal contamination exceeds permissible limits in Periyar, Chitrapuzha
Faecal contamination exceeded the maximum permissible limits along the Kalamassery stretch of the Periyar and Irumpanam stretch of the Chitrapuzha in Ernakulam in March 2025. The total coliform count, indicating faecal contamination, recorded on the Irumpanam stretch of Chitrapuzha was 7,900 MPN (most probable number) per 100 ml while the corresponding MPN in Kalamassery was 3,900/100 ml, according to an analysis by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) carried out in March 2025. The maximum permissible limit of total coliform in bathing water, as prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), is less than 2,500 MPN per 100 ml. The analysis of water samples was done as part of the Central Pollution Control Board's National Water Quality Monitoring Programme. Samples are collected from fixed locations on the Kalamassery stretch of the Periyar and the Irumpanam section along the Chitrapuzha every month as part of the monitoring programme. The faecal coliform count along the Kalamassery stretch of the Periyar in March 2025 was 2,100 MPN per 100 ml. The faecal streptococci level had also exceeded the permissible limit on multiple occasions on the same stretch. It was recorded at 1,400 MPN per 100 ml against the maximum of 500 MPN per 100 ml prescribed by the CPCB. The situation along the Irumpanam stretch of the Chitrapuzha was no different. The faecal coliform count in March was 4,300 MPN/100 ml. The water quality parameters at 13 monitoring stations along the Periyar in Idukki, Thrissur and Ernakulam districts had failed to comply with the norms of the CPCB's National Water Quality Monitoring Programme in the period between January and December 2024. The analysis had revealed that all 13 locations failed to meet the Primary Water Quality Criteria for Outdoor Bathing, as notified under the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986. The parameters of non-compliance included Dissolved Oxygen (DO), pH, Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Faecal Coliform, and Faecal Streptococci, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The range of faecal coliform values at Eloor and the sewage discharge point in Aluva had exceeded the primary water quality standards for outdoor bathing, surpassing the maximum permissible limit of 2,500 MPN (most probable number)/100 ml in the study period between January and December 2024.
