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An expert appraisal was conducted before granting clearance for expanding the Bharat Aluminium Company Limited’s (BALCO) aluminium smelter plant in Risda village in Chhattisgarh’s Corba district, said the NGT November 11.
The NGT Central Zone Bench in Bhopal was responding to an appeal against the environmental clearance given to the company.
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change gave the clearance to expand the plant April 22 this year.
“Environmental impact assessment was made, but various factors have not been taken into consideration and BALCO has received environment clearances by submitting false and misleading data,” the appellant had said.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has slapped environmental compensation of Rs 7.02 crore on 13 companies operating without valid environmental clearance.
The tribunal November 14, 2022 ordered these companies, extracting limestone in Gir Somnath and Junagadh districts, to deposit the money with the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) within two months.
Three companies — Somnath Hydrated Lime and Chemicals Industries, Dhirajlal Panchabhai Vachhani and Noor Mahamad Kalubhai Patani — account for a little over 41 per cent of the penalty amount.
The tribunal has ordered Somnath industries to pay a compensation of Rs 1.25 crore. The amount will be used for “restitution of environment,” the tribunal said. GPCB should draw up a plan to utilise the same within one month, it added.
The plan should be hosted on the GPCB website for two weeks, inviting suggestions from the stakeholders. The final plan should be executed within six months and a report on the same shall be uploaded on the website.
Trident Factory’s chemical and home textile division in the Barnala district has stopped discharging treated effluent into Dhanula Drain, said the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) in its report to the NGT.
The NGT had directed Trident Factory to pay an environmental compensation of Rs five crore February 8, 2022, while responding to a petition filed by Beant Singh Bajwa, president of the National Anti-Corruption Council.
The petitioner had filed an application in 2019 against the violation of environmental norms by Trident Factory.