NGT fines three industries in UP for polluting Ganga

Taking stern action against errant polluting industries, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), on Friday, imposed a fine of Rs.10 lakh each on three industrial units in Uttar Pradesh for discharge of untreated effluents and abstraction of groundwater without permission. Along with the fines, the three units have to close down operations until further orders of the Tribunal.

The three Gajraula-based industrial units — ASP Sealing Product Ltd, Umang Dairies Ltd., and Dairy India Private Ltd — were fined by a four-member bench, headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar, while hearing the Ganga pollution matter.

The tribunal ordered the three companies to deposit the fine with the Central Pollution Control Board. It also issued a show cause notice to the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board as to why the green court should not impose costs on its officers and initiate disciplinary action, for granting consent to polluting industries which had not even installed effluent treatment plants (ETP). The three units are part of 12 industrial units that were inspected by a joint inspection team that the Tribunal had constituted.

"As per the inspection report, the effluent was stored in a holding tank and oil scum was observed. The samples collected for analysis revealed that the effluent discharge was not in compliance with pollution norms," the bench said while passing the order on ASP Sealing Pvt. Ltd.

The tribunal found it alarming that Umang Dairies Ltd., an industrial unit that has been operating since 1994, did not have prior permission of the Central Ground Water Authority for abstraction of groundwater.