Furnish details of tanneries in Kanpur: NGT to UPPCB

The UP pollution board has been directed by National Green Tribunal to submit details of tanneries on the banks of river Ganga at Kanpur and inform it whether they have permission from the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) for extraction of ground water.
A bench headed by Justice U D Salvi also directed Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) to dispose the consent to operate applications of tanneries in the state within four weeks "in accordance with law".
"UPPCB shall place before us all the facts concerning the commencement of the industrial activity by each applicant, episodes of operations without consent, requisitions made for compliance and the compliance made, abstraction of ground water and requisite permissions from CGWA," the bench also comprising Expert Member Ranjan Chatterjee said.

The tribunal was hearing pleas filed by Kazi Leather (Huda Hide Agency), N R Tanners, Minaar Industries (Hindustan Tannery Pvt Ltd) and New Universal Tannery seeking expeditious disposal of their consent to operate applications.
The tanneries, which were running without consent, were shut down for polluting the river. Later, a joint inspection was conducted and proper compliance reported.
The matter has now been listed for next hearing on September 15.

Earlier, the tribunal had allowed the closed down tanneries located on the banks of Ganga in Kanpur to operate on a trial basis during which their effluent levels was to be checked by a team of experts.

It had also asked all industrial units there to furnish details of steps taken by them to curb pollution level to the joint inspection team, comprising experts from UPPCB, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and IIT-Kanpur.
The NGT, which had earlier termed the 700 tanneries in Kanpur situated on the river bank as one of the "highest sources of pollution", had also warned them of coercive action if they failed to comply with environmental laws.