The National Green Tribunal disposed of an application alleging environmental pollution by Mahendra Power Pvt. Ltd. The Tribunal relied on a Joint Committee report finding no violation of emission norms and confirming Zero Liquid Discharge, ruling no further intervention was warranted.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
(Court No. 2)
Item No.3
BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL PRINCIPAL BENCH
(Through Physical Hearing with Hybrid VC Option)
Original Application No. 449/2021
Surender Rathore & Ors. Applicants
Versus
State of Chhattisgarh Respondent
Date of hearing: 09.11.2022
CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN KUMAR TYAGI, JUDICIAL MEMBER HON’BLE DR. AFROZ AHMAD, EXPERT MEMBER Applicant: None.
Respondents: None.
Application is registered based on a complaint received by Post. ORDER
O.A No. 449/2021 Surender Rathore & Ors. State of Chhattisgarh 2
chimney of the power plant is causing respiratory disorders and serious health hazards to the residents of the area.
The inspection of the alleged polluting industry was also done on 10/03/2022 and during the inspection the emission of any kind of fly ash within or outside of the plant was not observed. Emission from the Chimney is not visible. The OCEMS was found functional and showing the particulate matter - 41.38 mg/Nm3, which is within the permissible limits. The distance of the industry from the Krishna Vihar Colony is about 2.5 kilometers. No water pollution was observed.
Monitoring of Ambient Air Quality was performed within the industrial premises and Krishna Vihar Colony on the date of inspection. The results of the Ambient Air Quality monitoring were found within the permissible ambient air quality standards. Copy of ambient air monitoring reports are hereby attached as Annexure1.
That, the ChhattisgarhEnvironment Conservation Board has issued consent under section 25 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 vide letter no. 1826 dated 07.04.2008 and under section 21 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 vide letter no. 1828 dated 07.04.2008 and subsequent renewals for Biomass Based Power Plant of capacity 9.8 Megawatt.
O.A No. 449/2021 Surender Rathore & Ors. State of Chhattisgarh 3
The above mention consent contain the special condition to prevent the water and air pollution in the vicinity:-
Special conditions mentioned in the consent/renewal issued under Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 to prevent the water pollution in the vicinity: -
"Industry shall operate and maintain the effluent treatment system effectively and regularly. Industry shall ensure treated effluent quality within the standards prescribed by Board published in Gazette Notification dated 25.03.88. Treated effluent shall be utilized in plant operations or for plantation within premises. Industry shall not discharge any treated / untreated effluent in to the river or any surface water bodies. No effluent (treated / untreated) shall be discharged outside of the factory premises in any circumstances; hence, zero discharge condition shall be maintained at all the time."
Special conditions mentioned in the consent/renewal issued under Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 to prevent the water pollution in the vicinity : -
"Industry shall operate and maintain the existing pollution control systems effectively & regularly to ensure the emission of particulate matter less than 50 mg/Nm3 all the time. Industry shall also maintain the ambient air quality within the factory premises within prescribed limits.
Copy of latest renewal granted to the industry are hereby attached Annexure-2.
Letter has been issued to Industry for maintaining the particulate matter emission level within prescribed standards vide dated 30/03/2022 ”
O.A No. 449/2021 Surender Rathore & Ors. State of Chhattisgarh 4
ambient air quality within prescribed limits and to submit its Factual and action taken report within 3 months.
“ Report of the Committee formed as per order of the Hon’ble NGT in the Original Application No. 449/2021 Surendra Rathore & Ors. Vs State of Chhattisgarh
| Sr No. |
Key point mentioned in the order of the Hon’ble National Green Tribunal |
Response of the Committee |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | We find from the report that there is no mention regarding compliance with CTO conditions, fly ash Utilization plan, quantification of fly ash generation and its utilization. The Joint Committee comprising of State PCB and District Magistrate, Janjghir, Chhattisgarh is, therefore, further directed to look into the matter afresh and submit factual and action taken report with respect to the following aspects: the effluent treatment system, treated effluent quality, utilization of treated effluent in plant operations or for plantation within premises, whether there is any storage of fly ash inside or outside the factory premises, whether there is any discharge of any treated/untreated effluent into the water bodies or outside of the factory premises whether zero liquid discharge condition s maintained or not and efficacy of air pollution control systems for ensuring the emission of particulate matter and maintaining the ambient air quality within prescribed limits. |
The Committee visited the industry on date 06.09.2022 and inspected the industry as per the pointers mentioned in the order dated 20.05.2022 of the Hon’able Tribunal. As per the letter of the industry dated 09.09.2022 to the Regional Officer, the industry is temporarily shut down from date 06.08.2022 and was found un- operational during the inspection. The Committee has divided the report based on the pointers mentioned in the order dated 20.05.2022 in the following paragraphs:- 1.Details regarding the effluent treatment system- The industry has established neutralization tank for treatment of industrial effluent. The domestic waste water is being treated in septic tank followed by soak pit. The industry completely recycles the |
O.A No. 449/2021 Surender Rathore & Ors. State of Chhattisgarh
5
| water being used during |
|---|
| the industrial process of |
power generation. Hence, |
| Zero Liquid discharge is |
| outside the plant |
premises is being |
maintained. |
| 2. Treated Effluent |
| **Quality-**Samples of the |
| water so observed in the |
| neutralization tank of the |
| industry were collected by |
| the personals of the |
| ChhattisgarhEnvironment |
| Conservation Board. The |
| analysis reports show |
| that the treated effluent |
| quality is within the |
prescribed limits of the |
| pollution indicators like |
| B.O.D., Suspended |
| Solids, and C.O.D. The |
| analysis report is |
| attached as Annexure - 1. |
| 3. Utilization of |
| treated effluent in plant operations or for plantation within |
| premises- The industry |
| has planted around |
| 10,000 trees inside and |
| around 700 trees outside |
| of its premises. The |
| industry uses the treated |
| water from neutralization |
| tank and soak pit for dust |
| suppression, ash |
| conditioning and watering |
| the plantation within |
| premises. |
| 4. Storage of fly ash |
| inside/outside of the |
| industry- Approximately |
| total 14,386.91 MT fly |
| ash was generated by the |
| industry in the year |
| 2021-2022, out of which |
| 14,386.91 MT was sold to |
| the brick manufacturers. |
| During the inspection, fly |
| ash was found in the |
| delivery yard of the |
industry. As per the |
i f h |
| representatve o te |
| industry, the fly ash so observed on the date of |
inspection was |
O.A No. 449/2021 Surender Rathore & Ors. State of Chhattisgarh
6
| approximately 1,500 Ton |
|---|
| in quantity. The Regional Officer, Chhattisgarh |
| Environment |
Conservation Board has |
| directed the industry by |
| the letter dated |
| 20/09/2022 to dispose of |
| the fly ash in a scientific |
| and safe manner, or else, |
| the industry will be |
| penalized with |
environmental |
| compensation or with |
| closure. The above |
| mentioned letter is hereby |
| attached as Annexure-2. |
| 5. Discharge of any |
| treated/untreatedeffluent |
| into the water bodies or |
| outside factory premises- |
| No treated /untreated |
| effluent was being |
| discharged outside of the |
| factory premises during |
| the inspection. |
| 6. Zero Liquid |
Discharge Condition- |
| Boiler blowdown and DM |
| Plant water is neutralized |
| in the neutralization tank |
| and is being mixed with |
| cooling tower blowdown |
| in the Central Chamber. |
| Domestic waste water is |
| treated in the soak pit |
and then it is used for |
| dust suppression, ash |
| conditioning and |
| greenbelt development. |
| Hence, zero discharge is |
| being maintained by the |
| industry and as stated in |
| the above point, no |
treated/untreated |
| effluent was being |
discharged outside of the |
factory premises during |
| the inspection. |
| 7. Efficacy of Air |
Pollution control |
| system-Electro Static |
| Precipitator (ESP) is |
installed to treat the flue |
| gases from the boiler. The |
| exhaust gases are discharged into the |
atmosphere through a |
O.A No. 449/2021 Surender Rathore & Ors. State of Chhattisgarh
7
| stack of 53m height for |
|---|
| effective dispersion of |
| sulphur dioxide and |
| emissions into the |
| atmosphere. The fugitive |
| dust due to raw material |
| unloading are controlled |
| by dust management |
| system, dust extraction |
| system with bag filters |
| are provided at material |
| transfer points and all |
| internal roads are being |
| asphalted to control the |
| fugitive dust due to raw |
| material transport. |
| 8. Maintaining |
| ambient air quality |
| within prescribed |
| **limits-**The personals of |
| the Chhattisgarh |
| Environment |
| Conservation Board |
| performed the ambient |
| air quality monitoring on |
| 06.09.2022 in four |
| locations inside the |
| industry. The results of |
| the PM10 parameters |
| were found within the |
| prescribed limits. The |
| copy of the ambient air |
| quality monitoring report |
| is attached as Annexure - |
| 3. |
| 9.CTO and subsequent |
| renewal conditions |
| **compliance status-**The |
| compliance status of the |
| CTO condition and latest |
| renewal granted to the |
| industry under the Air |
| (Prevention and Control |
of Pollution) Act, 1981 |
and Water (Prevention |
and Control of Pollution) |
| Act, 1974 is attached as |
| Annexure – 4. ” |
O.A No. 449/2021 Surender Rathore & Ors. State of Chhattisgarh 8
limits of the pollution indicators; treated effluent is being utilized in plant operation and for plantation within the premises; approximately 14.386.91 MT fly ash was generated by the industry in the year 2021 -2022 which was sold to the brick manufactures; 1500 ton fly ash was found in the delivery yard of the industry and the industry has been directed to dispose of fly ash in a scientific and safe manner; and the industry has installed air pollution control system as mentioned and PM 10 parameters were found to be within prescribed limits. The Joint Committee has also attached detailed report showing compliance status regarding compliance of the CTO conditions and did not find any material violation of the consent conditions.
Arun Kumar Tyagi, JM
Dr. Afroz Ahmad, EM
November 09, 2022 AG
3 issues framed by the court
Whether the respondents complied with environmental conditions regarding effluent discharge and air pollution.
Whether the findings of the Joint Committee regarding zero liquid discharge and fly ash management warrant further Tribunal intervention.
Whether the National Green Tribunal needs to intervene in the matter under the NJTB Act after the Committee's report.
3 provisions across 3 enactments
Surender Rathore & Ors.
State of Chhattisgarh
Arun Kumar Tyagi
Dr. Afroz Ahmad
As recorded by the court registry
An original application before a tribunal, most commonly a service dispute before the Central or a State Administrative Tribunal.
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
