NGT: 'Assess waste treatment norm violations by firm'

The National Green Tribunal has directed a joint committee of the union ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Central Pollution Control Board and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board to make a factual analysis into charges that Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited and Ramky Infrastructure Limited were violating norms in waste treatment, storage and disposal.

The tribunal, presided over by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, gave two months’ time to the committee to make its study into the claims by T M Umashankar and others.

The petitioners said the environmental clearance had not been taken, nor post establishment preventive and remedial steps taken to comply with the requirement of Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, in setting up waste disposal facility.

The matter, arising out of a writ petition, was transferred by the HC to the green tribunal.

The petitioners sought a direction for the closure of the treatment, storage and disposal facility (TSDF) established by M/s Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited and M/s Ramky Infrastructure Limited, on the direction of the state government, KSPCB and Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board on the ground that super fund, residual liability
fund and environment relief fund had not been established, as required under the rules.

The tribunal, however, noted the HCs order showed that a sum of Rs 3.2 crore was transferred to an escrow account after its order on November 28, 2018. Further a sum of Rs 11.61 lakh was deposited on an order issued on December 12, 2018.

The bench preferred to appoint KSPCB as the nodal agency for facilitating the committee to ascertain the facts.