Show cause notices for closure issued to Patanjali, Flipkart over PWM Rules, CPCB tells NGT

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has informed NGT that it has issued show-cause notices for the closure of operations to Flipkart and Patanjali Peya as they are not registered with it and have not responded to its communications on the matter.

In a report submitted to the National Green Tribunal, the CPCB has said the show cause notice under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, has been issued to these units on October 8, for the closure of their operation and environment compensation for non-compliance of provisions of Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules 2018.

The CPCB further informed the NGT that four firms –Hindustan Coca-cola Beverages Pvt Ltd, Pepsico India Holding Pvt Ltd, Bisleri International Pvt Ltd, and Ms NourishCo Beverages Ltd — are registered with CPCB. “However, they have not provided information for evidence-based assessment of the implementation of an action plan for fulfilment of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) liability”.

The documents submitted by them have not been endorsed by state pollution control boards (SPCBs) and accordingly, the show cause notice has been issued to these firms as well.

Earlier the NGT has directed the CPCB to conduct an environmental audit and recover fine for violation of environmental norms in handling plastic waste generated by them against some firms including Flipkart.

The Principal Bench of Green Tribunal headed by its chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel had earlier pulled up CPCB and said that the statutory regulators were not taking coercive measures, including invoking of “polluter pays” principle for enforcing the statutory norms against the e-commerce firms.