The court's order came in connection with a petition against the pollution caused by various industries in Ankleshwar
A division bench of Gujarat High Court led by Justice MR Shah on Wednesday asked the Ankleshwar Industrial Association and its members to give an undertaking stating whether or not they were following the norms for discharge of effluents.
The court's order came in connection with a petition against the pollution caused by various industries in Ankleshwar. During earlier hearing, it was revealed that some industries used ghost pipelines to dump effluents in the Final Effluent Treatment Plant (FETP) or gutters. The court said some industries in the association, particularly chemical industries, were discharging effluents in the chamber or drainage system without treating them.
"This is also being done through ghost pipelines, and there is a need to find such ghost pipelines. What is needed more than ever is for the industry to discharge the effluents as per the norms prescribed by the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB)," the court observed.
The bench warned the association against discharging effluents beyond permissible limit. The court said the undertaking was needed to make erring companies accountable so that if a firm is found flouting the norms, its directors will be liable for action. The action against them will include those taken for breach of undertaking as well as contempt of court proceedings.
The court also asked the GPCB to collect samples from over 700 chambers through which the effluents are sent to FETP. To the GPCB counsel's concern that it may not be possible to finish the task before next hearing, the court said that it was imperative that they started the process. "We already know that in some chambers the effluents received is above the danger mark and there is a possibility that these are the chambers in which the ghost pipelines are directing their effluents. We can begin from there," said the court.
The bench asked the GPCB to submit reports of quality of effluents being disposed collected six months ago. The court observed that since the association knew which industries emptied its contents into which chamber, it would be easy for them to find the guilty ones.
HC ORDER
- The HC bench asked the GPCB to submit reports of quality of effluents being disposed collected six months ago. The court observed that since the association knew which industries emptied its contents into which chamber, it would be easy for them to find the guilty ones.
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