Disposed

Brackish Water Research Centre v. Ministry of Environment & Forest

NGT6 Apr 2026Original Application No. 73/2021

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Applicants sought directions for surveillance against OTBP and constitution of an expert committee. The Tribunal held that draft Tar-Balls Management Rules were framed and pending finalization, disposing of the application.

What did the court decide?

Disposed of without issuing directions pending finalization of Draft Tar-Balls Management Rules.

Brackish Water Research Centre vs Ministry of Environment… — Environment and Pollution | NGT (2026)

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Item No.9

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(Pune Bench)

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BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL WESTERN ZONE BENCH, PUNE

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[THROUGH PHYSICAL HEARING (WITH HYBRID OPTION)]

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ORIGINAL APPLICATION NO. 73/2021(WZ)

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Brackish Water Research Centre through its President & Anr.

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…..Applicants

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Versus

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Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change & Ors.

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….Respondents

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Date of hearing: 06.04.2026

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CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE DINESH KUMAR SINGH, JUDICIAL MEMBER HON’BLE DR. SUJIT KUMAR BAJPAYEE, EXPERT MEMBER

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Applicants : Ms. Shilpa Chohan, Advocate a/w Ms. Anshita Shrivastava, Advocate for the applicant Respondents : Mr. Pushkal Mishra, Advocate for R1/MoEF&CC Mr. Maulik Nanavati, Advocate a/w Ms. Manvi Damle, Advocate for R-4 & R-6 Mr. Aniruddha Kulkarni, Advocate for R-5, 8 and 9 Ms. Pooja Natu h/f Ms. Manasi Joshi, Advocate for R-10 Ms. Sunita Sharma & Mr. Hari Om Singh Rajaur, Advocates for R-11 Ms. Anuya S. Kulkarni, Advocate for R-13 & 14 Mr. Manish Salkar, Advocate for R-18

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ORDER

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From the side of Respondent No.1- MoEF&CC, learned counsel Mr. Pushkal Mishra has appeared and provided us a copy of the of the Gazette of India Notification dated 03.04.2026 pertaining to the draft Tar-Balls Management Rules, 2026. These draft rules are in public domain, inviting objection to the public at large including the applicant.

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From perusal of the prayers made by the applicant in this Original Application, it is clear that a direction was prayed to be issued to Respondent No.2- Indian Coast Guard, to carry out an intensive

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Page 1 of 3

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surveillance drive with all infrastructure to detect the cause and source of Oil Tar-Ball Pollution (OTBP) in South Gujarat, Maharashtra, Daman (UT) and Goa and to submit the Report on the visible and non-visible impacts of annual oil spill and tar balls on the coasts of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Daman to the NGT; Constitute an interdisciplinary technical expert committee to carry out a comprehensive assessment of damage caused to the coastal and marine ecology due to OTBP and seepage in the coastal soil and sand in the coastal areas/stretches and CRZ areas of South Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and Daman (UT); respondents may be directed to prepare a standard operating procedure (SoP) to deal with occurrence of OTBP when no polluter is found with allocating clean-up funds to undertake the measures to remediate the coastal areas in its aftermath etc.

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A perusal of the previous order dated 02.12.2021 of this Tribunal would indicate that a Joint Committee was constituted, comprising of MoEF&CC represented by the Secretary, Government of India; Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, represented by the Secretary; Central Pollution Control Board represented by the Member Secretary; and Secretaries of Environment and Forest Departments of State of Maharashtra, State of Gujarat and State of Goa, to look into the details of the problem of pollution due to “Tar Ball” and other petroleum materials as mentioned in the application and suggest technical and administrative mechanism to address them effectively.

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Pursuant to the above, now the above-mentioned, draft rules have been framed which need to be finalized after having received the objections of the public within stipulated time. Therefore, in our estimation, nothing remains to be decided any further in this Original Application. After the

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Page 2 of 3

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finalization of rules, if any grievance remains to the applicant, he may approach this Tribunal as per the law.

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From the side of Respondent No.5- CPCB, Respondent No.8- State of Maharashtra & Respondent No.9- Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority, learned counsel Mr. Aniruddha Kulkarni has appeared.

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From the side of Respondent No.18- Goa State Pollution Control Board, learned counsel Mr. Manish Salkar has appeared.

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From the side of Respondent No.11- Directorate of Fisheries and Environment, learned counsel Ms. Sunita Sharma has appeared.

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From the side of Respondent No.10- Maharashtra State Pollution Control Board, learned counsel Ms. Pooja Natu has appeared.

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From the side of Respondent No.13-Director General of Hydrocarbon and Respondent No.14- Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, learned counsel Ms. Anuya S. Kulkarni has appeared.

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10. This Original Applications stands disposed of.

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Dinesh Kumar Singh, JM

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Dr. Sujit Kumar Bajpayee, EM

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April 06, 2026 ORIGINAL APPLICATION NO. 73/2021(WZ) SAR

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Page 3 of 3

Brackish Water Research Centre v. Ministry of Environment & Forest

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Brackish Water Research Centre v. Ministry of Environment & Forest

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

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