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TMI Blog2009 (10) TMI 964X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Association (Respondent No. 1), for seeking directions for preservation of ecology and for keeping the Noyyal river in Tamil Nadu free from pollution. According to the said Association, a large number of industries, some of them respondents before the writ court and appellants herein had indulged in dyeing and bleaching works at Tirupur area and discharging the industrial effluents into the Noyyal river which created water pollution to the extent, that the water of the river was neither fit for irrigation nor potable. The pollution also adversely affected the Orathapalayam reservoir and other tanks and channels of the said river. A similar issue i.e. menace of pollution had also earlier been raised by another association namely Karur Taluk Noyyal Canal Agriculturists Association by filing writ petition(c) No. 1649 of 1996 before the Madras High Court. The High Court disposed of the said petition vide judgment and order dated 26.2.1998 on the basis of joint Memo of Understanding filed by all the contesting parties, which contained the terms, to implement the pollution control measures and to pay the damages etc. The High Court directed the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (hereina ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... one crore and ninety five lacs) would be required for the project of cleaning and a sum of ₹ 23 crores was required for installation of treatment plants. The Association of Units owners had to establish R.O. (Reverse Osmosis) system and to attain Zero Liquid Discharge (hereinafter called ZLD) of the trade effluents. Thus, the said Association was required to deposit a sum equivalent of 25% of the R.O. cost and 50% of the project cost etc. and it was also pointed out that 150 pre-treatment plants were also likely to be established. The Court passed the order dated 26.12.2006, as an interim measure keeping the petition pending, issuing the following directions: (a) The CETPs are given time upto the 31st of July, 2007 to achieve the Zero Liquid Discharge(ZLD) of trade effluents subject to the following conditions: (i) The concerned CETPs are directed to pay a fine on pro rata basis at the rate of six paise per litre from 1st January, 2007 to 31st March, 2007; at the rate of eight paise per litre from 1st April, 2007 to 31st May, 2007; and at the rate of ten paise per litre from 1st June, 2007 to 31st July, 2007. The fine amount payable by the respective CETPs shall be a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... before 15th June, 2007, and the second installment to be paid on or before 31st July, 2007. .... (q) The Public Works Department is directed to continue with the cleaning and desilting operations of the Orathapalayam Dam and the cleaning of the Noyyal river shall be carried out through the petitioner association as per the orders of this Court. The District Collector, Coimbatore is directed to release a sum of ₹ 25 lakhs directly to the petitioner-Agriculturists Association towards the charges for cleaning of the Noyyal river and the works to be carried out upto the confluence point of the river with river Cauvery. (r) The respondents 1 to 3 are directed to finalise the site for dumping the solid waste from the Orathapalayam dam as well as from the Noyyal river which has been kept in bags and in open spaces. The Pollution Control Board is directed to provide the infrastructure and technical expertise for removal of the solid waste from the units as well as the dam to the notified site. The above exercise shall be done within a period of three months. (s) Both the Expert Committee as well as the Monitoring Committee shall submit periodical reports before thi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... several orders passed by the High Court, there could have been no improvement in the ecological set up of the area. The precautionary principle and principle of polluter-pays are the integral part and parcel of national environmental law. The appellant is bound to compensate the persons who have suffered the loss because of the activity of its members, as water of the river is neither worth for irrigation purpose nor potable. The members of the appellant association being responsible for the pollution, cannot escape the responsibility of not meeting the expenses of removing the sludge from the river and cleaning the dam and treating the water to make it pollution free. The cost so imposed by the High Court by the impugned order, is based on the report of the Expert Committee. In spite of the fact that the High Court had passed several orders and extended the period from time to time to take all possible measures to establish the RO system and achieve ZLD, no improvement could be made. In case the said members of the Association are not willing to achieve the pollution free atmosphere, they do not have any right to continue with their industrial activities. The appeals lack meri ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er the heading Loss of Ecology (Prevention and payments of compensation) by the Authority . The Expert Committee consisted of Hon'ble Mr. Justice P. Bhaskaran, a retired judge of Madras High Court, the Secretary of the Department of Environment, Government of Tamil Nadu and Member Secretary, Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi as its Member and Dr. K.R. Ranganathan, former Member Secretary of the Central Pollution Control Board. The Committee had taken note of all previous developments and assessed the loss to ecology and environment in the affected area. It also identified the individuals and families who suffered because of pollution and further determined the amount of compensation to be paid to each affected individual or family. It also fixed the liability for making the payment of compensation. The award mainly provided as under: (a) The Authority assessed loss to the ecology and environment in terms of use value of the groundwater resources polluted with excessive total dissolved solids (inorganic) utilized for irrigation as a result of the pollutional impact of effluents discharged by textile industries located in and around Tirupur and its vicinity falling ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... irect the Collectors of Coimbatore and Erode Districts the Pollution Control Board and PWD officials to coordinate with the Committee and provide them necessary transport and other logistic requirements for carrying out their work. x) To meet specialists having knowledge on public health relating to pollution, their cause and effect and possible preventive measures. It was, in fact, the Monitoring Committee in its memo dated 12th July, 2005 made various suggestions before the High Court regarding establishment of CETPs and gave costs for various operations and one of the recommendations read as under: Apart from the earlier recommendation of the Committee that no CETP which had not achieved financial closure and deposited monies should be permitted to reopen till financial closure is achieved and monies deposited, the Committee further recommends that all CETPs deposit the entire project cost within a period of 2 weeks (after adjusting the money spent by them towards the works in progress). If the units do not so deposit, the Committee recommends that they be shut down. The Committee reiterates the fact that all CETPs ought to have commissioned their RO system by today, if ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d other pollutants lying in the affected area. As the liability of the polluter is absolute for harm to the environment it extends not only to the victims of pollution but also to meet the cost of restoring the pollution free environment. 16. In Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum v. Union of India AIR 1996 SC 2715; this Court considered various constitutional provisions including Articles 47, 48A, 51A(g) and came to the conclusion that it is the duty of the State to protect and preserve the ecology, as Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees protection of life and personal liberty and every person has a right to pollution free atmosphere. Therefore, the precautionary principle and the polluter-pays principle have been accepted as a part of the law of the land being the part of environmental law of the country. 17. Similar view has been reiterated in People's Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India and Anr. (1997) 3 SCC 433; A.P. Pollution Control Board v. Prof. M.V. Nayudu AIR 1999 SC 812; and M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (2001) 9 SCC 142, observing that environment and ecology are national assets. They are subject to inter-generational equity. The sustainable devel ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ath AIR 2002 SC 1515; Mrs. Susetha v. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors. AIR 2006 SC 2893. 20. The correctness of the impugned order is to be tested on the basis of the aforesaid settled legal propositions. This Court vide order dated 18.5.2007 stayed the impugned order of the High Court only to the extent that the directions to close down the industries would not be given effect to from 31.7.2007. This Order has been extended from time to time. On 10th August, 2007, this Court directed the members of the petitioners' association to deposit a sum of ₹ 25 crores within a period of six weeks before the High Court and further to file an affidavit as what progress has been made in respect of the CETPs and treatment plants. This Court vide order dated 12.5.09, directed the Board to inspect the Noyyal River and find out whether any pollution is caused by the factories owned by the members of the appellant Association and file a report on or before 27.7.09. 21. The Inspection Committee constituted by the Board made following observations during inspections on 8.7.2009 and 9.7.2009: (A) There is no flow of surface water in the upstream side of Agrahara Puthur road bridge (S1) ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed to them in view of the provisions of the G.O.Ms. No. 213 Environment and Forests (EC-1) Department dated 30.3.1989 and G.O.Ms. No. 127. 24. With regard to the technical aspect, Inspection Committee submitted that among the 17 CETPs, 11 CETPs have completed 90% to 97% works relating to the ZLD system. The remaining minor works to be completed related to the establishment of an adequate Solar Evaporation Pan area, considering the evaporation rate as 4.5 mm per sq.m. per day. The other 3 CETPs have completed above 90% of the works relating to the ZLD system. The remaining works to be completed related to the establishment of adequate Solar Evaporation Pan area and loading of the membranes into the RO module, etc. 25. The remaining 3 CETPs have completed below 80% of work relating to the ZLD systems. The remaining percentage of works to be completed relates to the establishment of adequate Solar Evaporation Pan area, Boiler, Crystallizer, loading of the membranes into the RO module, etc. 26. In view of the above fact that this matter is pending before this Court for more than two and a half years and the members of the appellant Association had been permitted to continue th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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