Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal
Sewer line joined to stormwater drain by Delhi Jal Board: NGT
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on February 26, 2024 expressed unhappiness at the delay in remedying the issue of a sewer line linked to a stormwater drain by Delhi Jal Board (DJB). The court directed the authorities concerned to argue on the next date of hearing (May 6, 2024) on the “issue of violation of the environmental norms by them and as to why environmental compensation should not be imposed upon them and quantum thereof.”
“More than three years have passed, but till now, no effective action has been taken to remediate the situation,” the court said, directing the authorities to file their response within four weeks.
An application in the tribunal raised grievances about discharge of sewage in stormwater drain passing through Malviya Nagar Vidhan Sabha to Greater Kailash, Vidhan Sabha. A sewer line was joined to the stormwater drain by DJB three years ago, it claimed.
As a result, the fresh water in the drain was getting contaminated by sewage, damaging the environment and causing a health hazard.
The NGT said that the report filed by the Delhi Jal Board, February 24, 2024 clearly reflected that the sewer is still flowing into stormwater drain.
Encroachment on Chitlapakkam lake in Chennai
The NGT heard a matter February 26, 2024 over encroachment of Chitlapakkam lake in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
The court directed notices be issued to the water resource department, Tamil Nadu; Tamil Nadu State Pollution Control Board; district collector/district magistrate, Kanchipuram and State Wetland Authority. The principal bench of the NGT transferred the matter to the southern zonal bench for appropriate further action. The next hearing of the case will be on April 15, 2024.
An application was registered on the basis of the news article, Encroachers remain on lake despite HC fiat, appearing in newspaper The Times of India, January 11, 2024. The Chitlapakkam lake in southern Chennai, the article reported, currently has a water spread reduced from 53 acres to 47 acres. Approximately six acres on the western side of the lake have been encroached upon, with structures, presumably houses, erected by encroachers.
In spite of the order of the Madras High Court, many of the encroachers have been left untouched and out of 403 identified encroachments, authorities have removed only 74 till date, the article added. Instead of complying with the order of the HC fully and removing all encroachments, the water resources department is carrying out restoration work at a cost of Rs 25 crore on the available area, thereby legalising the encroachments.
Large-scale mining of sand in Subarnarekha river
The principal bench of the NGT February 26, 2024 took suo motu cognisance of large-scale illegal extraction of sand in Subarnarekha river, Sidhgora, East Singhbhum, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand.
A news article appeared in newspaper Prabhat Khabar, December 24, 2023, alleging that sand extractors transport illegally extracted sand through tractors. The miners extract the sand from deep water of the river using boats and sell it illegally for Rs 3,500 to Rs 4,000. The report claimed the mining was taking place in collusion with local police.
The NGT took into consideration the environmental implications of the case directed at the Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board and Deputy Commissioner/District Magistrate, East Singhbhum Jamshedpur. The next hearing of the case will be before the eastern bench of the NGT on May 5, 2024.
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