NGT sets up panel to inspect industries in MP, UP

The National Green Tribunal today set up a committee to inspect areas in Singrauli and Sonebhadra districts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh where coal mines and thermal plants are operating and report their impact on environment and health of the people there.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar directed the five-member panel to see if the industries, which include Essar, Hindalco and Reliance' Sasan Ultra Mega Power project, are adhering to prescribed parameters of emissions and also assess their cumulative impact on the environment.
If the panel finds that prescribed parameters regarding disposal of fly ash, coal transportation and other activities, are not being followed causing health problems to people, then the committee is to suggest remedial measures, the tribunal said and listed the matter for further hearing on March 3.

The committee will comprise a member each from ministries of Environment and Heavy Industries, Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (MPPCB) and Central Pollution Control Board.
The tribunal passed the order after petitioner advocate Ashwani Dubey showed pictures to the bench of coal being transported in open trucks to the thermal power plants, fly ash being dumped in huge open mounds as well as in the Rihand Dam and alleged that the large scale air and water pollution in the region has adversely affected the health of the people there apart from the environment.
Senior advocate Parag Tripathi, appearing for Hindalco Industries, contended that the company's trucks were not being used for transporting coal, adding that the route used by the unit is different from the one cited by the petitioner.

He also contended that Hindalco's unit in the area is non-polluting.
Meanwhile, MPPCB submitted before NGT that there are only four units in Madhya Pradesh and the rest are in Uttar Pradesh. It also said that it will file a status report within a week.