Disposed

Balineni Satyanarayana, v. The Government of Telangana

Telangana HC17 Feb 2022PIL/224/2014

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

The High Court of Telangana considered a PIL alleging pollution by ash slurry from the Kothagudem Thermal Power Station. Relying on the Pollution Control Board's report showing remedial steps and compliance, the Court held no further orders were required and directed the Board to conduct periodic checks. The petition was disposed without costs.

What did the court decide?

Pollution Control Board directed to carry out monthly checks to ensure compliance; petition disposed.

Balineni Satyanarayana, Vs The Government of… — Environment and Pollution | Telangana HC (2022)

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HIGH^{couRr t?T} I+BSIiIioF TELANGANA

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THURSD$i[+tiEosuHsvfl [iiB'{r'l-"r9tt'l,BRUARY'

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PRESENT

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THE^{HONOURABLE THECHIEFJUSTICE SATISH CHANDRA SHARMA}

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THE^{HONOURABLESRIJUSTICE ABHINAND KUMAR SHAVILI} PU L cl T R S L TI toN L o 240 1

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Between:

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Balineni^{Satyana13Vglta^} -ll&r,ufi^{ff "$y,Ilt,X%l'J"t,I36l?"3""".,,"t8i'"Jl''H'.,"",.'1} tffi lli:l^o"'fi ".i,h"J,:,,-#:

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..,PETITIONER

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by its^{Principal Secretary'PowerGeneral}

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1. The Government^{of Telangana} .Rep , h:'sfll*'lfii""#1J1[F;;:[:i.t,lJ1iff:frr,*;;:""ryp'wer 'n"pliviiJr'i"^lsinsDirector'

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1. P:il:Tli""f ililfll,i$lii;I,",ffi 4. grE:i:in^{ti}i;}T#['EJJ:['Lni"tenui,.on."ntarEnsineer,Paryavaran} iT',1ii[1*[zu=":."rff^{,:'"5Tfl il;?'ii^'"11'xi;m'Repbvit's}

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AND

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Environmental^Engineer'

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...RESPONDENTS

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pettonunderon,"-331,,?l"T:,.:",3}:ti:i:"{d,h..8,,{,fi llliil'"r,.,"* circumstances^{statedin,n" un'";;'r;;;.riurty} on" il,rl:-Tlr,], action^{to compty the} issue a^{writ order or directron tj;;"d5;i.';i;5} in not taking^ar comptiance^{of Board_} ::i'#i:Ji,""3"[","r1{:l;":}s,li:hffi i;,:i",iiJ#lf;1ft ff^i;; conditions^{and standards} Yl""1er"i"nirn & conrrol ,g1,loro". Thermal power Pollution)^{Act 1e74,} i:-t^:llil';ii'0;'rr,r"su wu,t" of Kotha lJiuur"rl^{12th unit at staee uj;,::;";;i;,;o;} Station^{as arbitrarY' illegal l} "nd^{,ioltiru oi principresor naturar} justice

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l.A. NO:^{1 OF2014(PILMP' NO: 322 OF 2014)}

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the^{aff idavit} p et r o^f n^{iled in} u nd e^support r s "", : r, 1 lJ eif, :;q1'61i:i{i::[ii?lfffi fl .,l;:"fl ,l{ ^oI ili,".,i*""i^{,t iZtnL)nit at Stage} ,iirr,rn"t^{proceedinssf:l} "-tl?;J:'[i'r"it;n"'or-',nJ ,".oondents^{1 to 3' durins the} of Kothagudem^Thermall'ov pendencY^{of the P'lL}

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Counsel^{for the Petitioner : SRI'A'VEERESH KUMAR}

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Counsel^{for the Respondent Nos'1 to 3 : SRI'C'RAGHU}

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Counsel^{for the Respondent Nos'4& 5 : SRI'T'V'RAMANARAO (SC FORTSPCB)}

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The Court^{made the followingORDER}

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HON LE CHIEF I CHAND S AND THE HON^{,BLE SRI JUSTICEABHINANDKUMARSHAVILI} PUBLIC INT^{ERESTLITIGATION No.2 24 of 2OL4}

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ORDER: eer^{theHon'ble the ChiefJstice SatishChandraSharma)}

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The petitioner^{beforethis Court has filed the present} public interest litigation^{stating that theKothagudem} Thermal Power^{Station, whichis a State ownedand State} controlled Thermal^{PowerStationgeneratingelectricity is} creating^{pollution by permitting the ash slurry into the water} bodies and eventually^{theGodavariRiver isgetting} contaminated. It^{has also been stated that the.farmers are} not able to cultivate^{their fields becauseof the coal ash'The} farmers are suffering^{frorn variousdiseases and the Pollution} Control Board is^{not taking any steps in the matter'The} petitioner has prayed^{for the following relief:-}

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"For the reasons^{stated in theaccompanytng} affidavit, it is, therefore,^{prayed that this Honble Court may} be pleased to issue^{a writorderordirectionmore} pa..ticularly one in the nature^{of PIL of Mandamus declaring} the action of the^{respondentsIto 3 in not taking any} action to comply the^{notices issued by the 4th arld sth} respondents and non^{complianceof Board Conditionsand} Standa-rds under the^{Provisionsof Water(Prevention &} Control of Pollution) Act,^{1974 and Air (Prevention &} Control of Pollutiofl)^{Act,1981 by establish12'h Unit at} Stage VII of 800^{Mega Watts oI Kothagudem ThermalPower} Station as arbitrary,^{illegal,unjust, malalide arld violative of} principles of naturai^justice and^{pass suchother orderor} orders as this Honble Court^{may deem fit and properin the} circumstances of the case."

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A detailed^{and an exhaustivereport has been filed by} the Pollution^{Control Board based upon variousinspections} conducted^{from time to time and the reportreveals that} remed.ial steps^{have been taken by the ThermalPower} Station. The^{relevantextract from the report filed by the} Pollution^{Control Board is reproduced as under:-}

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"The^{Board is reviewingthe industryperiodica-Ily in} Task Force^{Committee ard issuedlatest directionsto all} units of M/s^{KTPS (i e', KTPS sth Stage'KTPS 6'h Stage &} KTPS 7rh^{Stage)vide order dated26 il 2018 Copyof the} seime is enclosed^{as Annexure-6 M/s'KTPS (O&M) has} phased out 8 units^{duringtheperiodfrom 2019to March} 2O2O in^{phasedmanner as per *re directions of the Boald} and conditj.on^{stipulatedinEnvironmentalClearance} issued to^{7ih stageunit of M/ s KTPS}

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Three units^{(i e} ,^{KTPS 5!h Stage'KTPS 6!hStage &} KTPS 7th Stage)^{are having Effluent TreatmentSystems artd} sa.me are under^{operationThe main problemisash} washings and^{ash ponddischargesThe industryis} sending^{a1leffluents includingashwashingsto the Effluent} Treatment^{Plalts and treated effluentis being discharging} into Karakavagu^{hnallyjoinsKinnerasani Decanted ash} pond water from^{5rh & 6'h stage unitsis pa-rtly sending to} farmers^{throughaqueductfor irrigationpurposeas per the} request of^{the farmersand remainingis discharging into} Karakavagr^{connected to KinnerasaniRiver' Decanted ash} pond water^{of the 7'h Stage unit isdischa-rginginto} Kinnerasani^{River.Thefarmers along the Karakavagu} before^{connectedto Kinnerasani areusing wat€r fromthis} Karakavagu^{for rrrigation purpose even in nonrainyseason}

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Tl.re Board^{is monitoring the industryandcollecting} treated eliluent^{samplesat lndustry premises as well as} collecting^{rvater sarrLples lrom nearby streams& riversi'e''} Karakavagu^{ard KinnerasaliAs per the latestanalysis} report, the^{sa:nples collectedon 07 07 2O2lThevalues} are rvithin^{the prescribed standards ol the Board for surface}

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'!i/ater slanda-rds^{statementof the analysisreports} enclosed^{as Artnexure-?'"}

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The aforesaid^{reportrevealsthat old units are bqing} closed^{downbasedupon the directionsof the Pollution} Control^{Board and as manyas eight units from March2019} to March^{2O2O have been closed down keeping in view the} Environmental^{ClearanceCertificate'The reportalso reveals} that^{the Thermal PowerStation is having its own Effluent} Treatment^{Plants and onlyaftertreating the effluents'they} are being^{dischargedinto Karakavagu}

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ln the^{light of the aforesaid' no further orders are} required^{to be passedin the present public interest litigation'} However,^{the Pollution Control Board is clirectedto carry out} periodic^{checks every month to ensurethat the Thermal} relating^{to the} Power^{Stationis not violatingthe provtstons} environmental^{laws and in case any violationis noticed'the} sha1l take^{aPProPriate action 1n} Pollution^ControlBoard

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accordance^with1aw'

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Thepublicinterestlitigationrsaccordinglydisposedof.

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Themisce]laneousapplicationspending,ifany,shall

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sha11 be^{no order as to costs'} stand^{closed. There}

SD/-K.ONESIM

ASSISTANT^REGISTRAR

L-I' //TRUE COPY'

SECTION^OFFICER

'o^,. "^{,n" Principal Secretary, Governmentof Telangana' Power General Corporation} f-imiteO,^{SbcretariatBrjitoinqsHyderabad}

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1. The^{Principal Secretary, C,i*inii"niot nndhra Pradesh'PowerGeneral} ' cJip"iiii"iiLimiGa, si:cretarlat Buildinss' Hvderabad.. a in""r'aJ"rti"s^{oir"itor.'K;ih;s,;;'Tieimil PowerStation Kothasudem town'} Khammam^District

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'' Tij;'Chi;i^{il;iion-"nturEngineer, A P Pollution Control Board'Paryavaran} Bhavan, A-3^{lndustrial Estate, Sanathnagar'HyderaDao}

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s. iii" E""iio".entar^{engin;-i ApFottuti6ncontrol Board"Regionaloffice'} Kothaqudem.

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o. oiJ'LtiJ^{snl.A.vEERESHKUMAR, Advo-c€te[oPUC]}

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O;; aa i"^{SRI.C RAGHU,AdvocateIOPUC]} A. il; cc i;^{srii.i.v.nnrtl-nr'rn-nn-oidcFoR rsPCB)Advocate [oPUC]}

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Two CD^CoPies

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One spare^coPY SA ..--^----*stI(^q

HIGH^COURT

D NIED1710212022

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v-<br>eE

ORDER

PlL.No.zZ4^{of 2014}

DISPOSING^{OF THEP.I.L}

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WITHOUT^COSTS.

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Cr9t4'$ W

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Balineni Satyanarayana, v. The Government of Telangana

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Balineni Satyanarayana, v. The Government of Telangana

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

A compact analysis

Issues for consideration

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Case details

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