1. This application was filed on 08.09.2015 with a grievance of violation of environmental norms by Respondent No. 1, Indian Rayon (A unit of Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd.) at Junagadh-Veravel, District Gir Somnath, Gujarat. According to the applicant, the damage is done to Deveka River at Gir Somnath. The company was discharging hazardous chemicals into the sea as well as the river. The unit was generating electricity for which Environmental Clearance (EC) was granted on 22.06.2015, inspite of opposition of the inhabitants. There is dumping of fly ash at public places and there is also air pollution.

2. Considering the application, the Tribunal issued notice to the respondents which included the State of Gujarat, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), State PCB, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), District Collector, Coastal Zone Management Authority (CZMA) and Water Resources Department of Gujarat. The matter has been pending consideration in the last five years. The project proponent, CPCB, State PCB and MoEF&CC have filed their respective affidavits, among other affidavits, to the effect that the environmental norms are complied with.

3. On 27.07.2020, a Bench of this Tribunal observed that no untreated sewage be discharged into a water body which may be complied with by the concerned statutory authorities. The Bench also directed the matter to be placed before the Principal Bench.

4. The matter was last considered on 09.09.2020. With a view to ascertain the latest status, an independent fact-finding Committee was appointed to visit the site and give information about the compliance status. The operative part of the order is as follows:—

“6. Accordingly, we constitute a joint Committee comprising CPCB, State PCB, Gujarat CZMA, nominee of National Institute of Oceanography, Goa and the District Magistrate, Gir Somnath. The State PCB will be nodal agency for coordination and compliance. The joint Committee may visit the plant and the site of disposal of the effluents within one month, look into the compliance of relevant parameters and furnish its report to this Tribunal within three months by e-mail at judicial-ngt@gov.in preferably in the form of searchable PDF/OCR Support PDF and not in the form of Image PDF. It will be open to the applicant to furnish its view point to the Committee through the State PCB within two weeks from today.”

5. Accordingly, the fact-finding Committee has filed its report on 13.03.2021 mentioning the steps taken by the Committee as well as the status of ECs and compliances with regard to the Waste Water Management, Air Pollution Control Management and Hazardous Waste Management. The report concludes with the findings and recommendations as follows:

“TABLE 6.1 Committee's Comments, Observations related to representation/viewpoints of the Applicant.

Sl. No. Applicant's Representations/View Points Committee's Comments/Field Observations 1 Non-installation of Advanced control systems i.e. DCS, ECS & PLD etc. and no online monitoring and non-display of information to the public. The industry has not installed. i) the stack for burning of toxic gases and it is directly released into the air through stacks installed at boilers. ii) online monitoring system for SO2 and NOX iii) online pH meter, flow meter, TOC analysers and sulphide & sulphur analysers and there is direct discharge by avoiding guard ponds. The industry has installed DCS, SCADA & PLC systems for process plants for the operations. The Industry has provided 3 stacks for boilers and provided 4 stacks for the process after air pollution control systems. The air pollution control system details are attached as Annexure VII (APCM). The industry has installed Online Monitoring System (OCEMS) for both effluent and emission and the same is linked with the CPCB server. The details of online monitoring systems (OCEMS) along with the monitoring of parameters (PM, SO2, NOx for boilers and Cl, HCl for process stack.) are given in Annexure-X (OCEMS). The ambient air quality data for one location-Rayon Admin building (inside the plant) is displayed at the digital display on the main gate for the public (Image 16, Annexure-XVII - Photograph). The industry has installed online analyzers (OCEMS) as per conditions mentioned in EC to install Marine Pipeline for disposal of trade effluent. OCEMS installed for pH, TOC, TSS, Flow rate Annexure-X (OCEMS). At the time of inspection, the values noted are Effluent flow: 228.8 lpm, Effluent temp: 36.44 °C pH: 7.45 TU/TS: 33.7 mg/l TOC: 92.80 mg/l, During inspection proper channelization of trade effluent through Guard Pond was observed (Image 7, Annexure - XVII-Photograph). 2 The sewage generated from the plant and its worker's colony is directly connected to the municipal sewer line and there is no such treatment in the STP as the STP installed is just scrap skeleton and it is not in operation. The industry has established two residential coloniesAditya Nagar adjoining to the plant (in south west direction) and another colony namely Raysil Heights which is away from the plant in east direction. The sewage generated from colonies-Adityanagar, Raysil heights and industrial premises is treated in Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) installed (capacity 500 m3/day) in the premise of the industry. The sewage from worker colony which is not the property of the industry, as informed, is discharged into the sewer line of Veraval-Patan Municipality. The STP consists of two air diffusers clarifier, chlorinator, dechlorination tank, filters (sand and activated charcoal), and 100 kl capacity storage tank. The treated sewage is used for plantation/green belt development through a dedicated distribution pipeline network. During the visit, the STP was found in operation and a sample was collected from the outlet of the STP and analyzed for parameters-TSS, BOD & Residual Chlorine. The analysis results (Table 5.2) of the sample show BOD (24 mg/l) slightly exceeds the norm (20 mg/l). The other parameters-TSS & Residual Chlorine are within the norms. 3 The air pollution control system attached to various plants/units are not in scientific operation and causing release of pollutants. Pollutants released from process and boiler operations were measured by collecting samples of gases released in the environment i.e. from boiler stacks and process stacks. It is evident from Analysis Results of the samples collected during inspection that the concentration of pollutants are within permissible limits as prescribed by GPCB (Table 5.3). It was informed by industry that they are following maintenance schedule as per technical requirement of the each Air Pollution Control System (APCS). The industry has also installed an Online Monitoring System for Emission and the same is linked with CPCB server (Annexure - X OCEMS). 4 The quantity of total water requirement increased from 12938 m3/day to 17939 m3/day after expansion is totally false. Additional water sourced from Umrethi dam (3000 m3/day) is much higher than this and there is no recycled treated effluent. There are no flow meters installed to catch this quantity. The industry is extracting fresh water more than 20000 m3/day and also extracting ground water. In the EC or CCA, the permission for quantity of water consumption/or effluent discharges are mentioned with maximum quantity for full production and installed capacities of the plant. Current source of fresh-water is Hiran Dam. The industry has buried bore-wells and there is no groundwater extraction. The industry maintains a record for utilization of freshwater. The industry is maintaining records for water usage, effluent discharge and energy meters for the equipment involved in water sourcing/effluent discharge (Annexure XI). Freshwater consumption (in KLPD) during Apr-2020 to Oct-2020 were as below: Month Min Max Avg Apr 2020 1679 4304 2815 May 2020 3198 4305 3734 June 2020 3859 9376 7330 Jul 2020 7387 8879 8185 Aug 2020 6686 8612 7872 Sept 2020 8106 9827 8908 Oct 2020 8868 12288 10462 Water consumption during Apr-2020 to Oct-2020 in domestic, industrial & allied activities and waste water generation as summarized as: Month WC*! (cooling) WC (Domestic) WC (Process) WWD Apr 14 8 62 76 May 19 11 84 80 June 37 22 160 118 Jul 43 25 185 178 Aug 41 24 178 215 Sept 45 26 195 182 Oct 55 32 236 213 * WC - Water consumption, WWD - Wastewater/effluent discharge. The values are reported in Million liters/Month. Kindly refer Annexure-XI for detailed information. As per information provided, the average consumption of water 8,200 KL/Day (Since April 2020) and as per the Environment Audit Report for the 2019-2020, average industrial water consumption-12,661.86 KLPD Therefore, industrial water consumption is within consented limit i.e. 13,070 KL/Day (Refer CCA at Annexure-III). Effluent is discharged to the deep sea through marine pipeline and treated sewage is used for gardening. The industry has installed flow meters for water consumption and effluent discharge. The flow rate, pH and temp data of effluent discharge can be seen from Image 6 provided at Annexure - XVII Photographs. The industry is going to establish a sea water desalination plant for an alternative source of water for which CTE is obtained from GPCB and CRZ clearance application is under process with GCZMA. 5 The effluent discharge from various units is 12540 m3/day and whereas recycled water though ETP is only 2000 m3/day as disclosed in EIA (at page No. 359, 360 & 361). The industry is violating the principle of 3R with impunity by not reducing the fresh water demand, also by not reusing and also by not scientific treatment. The industry has obtained EC for disposal of treated effluent (15000 m3/day) into deep sea through marine pipeline (Annexure-XII EC). The industry possesses consent for generation of 11,372 KLPD industrial wastewater (Annexure - III CCA) for discharge to the deep sea through marine pipeline with diffuser system after treatment. Average treated effluent discharge during Sep 2020 was approx. 6000 KLPD (Annexure - XI). As per Environment Audit Report 2019-20 average treated effluent discharge was 8084.84 KLPD. It is mentioned in EC (condition-9.0) which read as “As proposed, effluent recycling RO plant shall be installed to produce 2000 m3/day recycle water……..”. Accordingly, the industry has installed RO Plant of 500 m3/day and it was in operation during inspection. The industry uses treated sewage for gardening. It is further informed that for the remaining quantity (1500 m3/day) of effluent recycling is proposed along with phase 2 & 3 of expansion of the production as mentioned in the EC compliance Report (Section-A, Point-iii, Page-2 in Annexure-XIII EC Compliance). It is evident from i) CCA obtained by the industry from GPCB, ii) EC issued by MoEF&CC and iii) Production data that the industry is yet to achieve production capacity expansion, effluent generation and effluent recycling as proposed in the EC. 6 The effluent treatment in ETP is in manner and polluted effluent is discharged into deep sea to keep these violations beyond the knowledge of common citizens and there is death of fishes in bulk quantity. Instead of discharging of so called treated water in deep, same can be used by Municipal Corporation and local authority or for fire station, trees & gardening etc. but this is not done to overcome the pollution. The industry is generating effluent having inlet BOD: 180 mg/l, COD: 380 mg/l, Zn:52 mg/l as per the monitoring carried out on 16.10.2020. The industry has taken permission to discharge the treated effluent to the deep sea. The industry has installed OCEMS and data is transmitted to CPCB/GPCB server. Also annual monitoring is carried out by CSIR-NIO as per EC condition and as per latest report (2019) it is mentioned that along with coastal water monitoring, CSIR-NIO also checks the quality effluent quality and toxicity (bioassay) test of the effluent of the said industry. Results of several years of monitoring indicates that the final effluent meets the criteria consented by the GPCB. There has been no fish kill episode reported in GPCB records since 2009 due to discharge of treated trade effluent by industry. Analysis results describing attributes of treated effluent are mentioned in Table 5.1. 7 The Marine pipeline with diffuser system is discharging more than 15000 m3/day which is beyond the permissible limits. It is also mentioned by the applicant that the quantity of treated effluent discharged to the deep is more than 10540 m3/day which is against the permissible limit. During March 2019 monitoring by CSIR-NIO, efficiency of diffuser was also assessed through dye study. It was found that effluent discharge from industry reaches the diffuser within stipulated time and there was no indication of leakage of marine pipeline. If the effluent is discharged beyond the capacity of pipe, the pipeline will rupture from several places and partial quantity of effluent will reach the diffuser, which was not observed during dye study. The industry possesses consent for generation of 11,372 KLPD industrial wastewater (Annexure - III CCA) for discharge to deep sea through marine pipeline with diffuser system after treatment. Average treated effluent discharge during Sep 2020 was approx. 6000 KLPD (Annexure - XI). As per Environment Audit Report 2019-20 average treated effluent discharge was 8084.84 KLPD. 8 There is treatment of sewage and so called use as make up water for cooling tower & plantation inside the premises is absolutely false episode. Refer, point-2 above in this Table. 9 The waste of Cellulose, sulphuric sludge, (Fly ash, Process sludge, coal ash, charcoal slurry is dumped in the open area belongs to government lands & in river. There is no disposal through TSDF, cement plant, brick plant, GPCB approved vendors or Group plant etc. Storage of hazardous & other chemicals are in excess than the permission, in an illegal manner. The joint committee has visited surrounding area adjoining industry premises but no such disposal or indications that the industry has disposed waste on open land. Kindly, refer sub-section 4.2.3 of this report for storage, disposal of hazardous & non-hazardous waste, fly ash/coal ash etc. Waste generation and its disposal from Audit Report against Authorization quantity and Form-4 submitted as per HOW (M&TM) Rules, 2016. It is observed that quantity is less than permissible quantity. 10 The low quality coal & prohibited lignite from Africa, Indonesia and local unauthorised traders is procured. But GPCB, MoEF, State SEIAA & DOE is intentionally neglecting to this serious issue. There is no test report is prepared for this coal and lignite used in boiler. There is huge air pollution by use of such fuel and from its emission and further rain water is contaminating in this coal & lignite which further contaminating river due to unscientif ic storage. Caused serious damage to the soil in the vicinity of the project by unscientific handling of coal by open storage and contaminating storm water, open storage of fly ash, chemicals spillage etc. The industry has informed that feeding of lignite has been stopped since 17.10.2019 and left over quantity (105 MT) fed on 14.12.2019. As per data submitted by the industry, stock of Coal is approx. 5,337 MT on 16.10.2020. Currently, the industry is utilizing Coal of Indonesian and/or South African origin. The industry is permitted to utilize coal & lignite, as per CCA as fuel in boilers. The sample purchase order of coal, coal analysis Report and Coal storage and Handling area details provided by the industry are annexed at Annexure-XIV. The unit has provided 23 covered bays (22 bays of 36 m × 22 m and 1 of 36 m × 5.5 m across approx 9700 m2 area) of 30,000 MT capacity for storage of Coal. During inspection 7 sheds were under maintenance. The photographs taken during the visit at Coal storage and handling area are given in Annexure-XVII Photograph as Image 17 & 21. During the committee visit, source emission monitoring was carried out at stacks attached to coal fired boilers and it is observed that emissions of pollutants are within consented limits. The analysis results are given in Table 5.3. The industry has also installed OCEMS for continuous monitoring of stack and the same is linked with CPCB server (Annexure X OCEMS). 11 As per Financial Reports submitted to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs etc., the production of various yarns and chemicals are much higher than the permissible quantity and the same needs to be verified by this committee with scientific details. The industry has provided Monthly Production data which is provided as Annexure - V (Mfg. Process and Production data). It is observed from data provided by the industry and that provided in Environmental Audit Report 2019-20, the production of consented products was found within the permissible quantity given in the consent issued by GPCB. 12 Dumping fly ash at public places and spreading dust around the city while transporting the material. Unit has blatantly violated the CPCB provisions & guidelines for storage of boiler ash and it is stored in open space causing an air borne water regime during the rainy season by flowing along with the storm water. There is direct exposure of ash & dust. The industry has commissioned 4 (four) storage silos for fly ash and fly ash is sent to Ultra-Tech cement & other cement plants for cement manufacturing. During inspection fly ash transportation through bulker (Closed containers) was observed. Fly ash was not observed stored in open. Kindly refer subsection 4.2.3 of this report for further details. The committee has not observed dumping of fly ash at public places. Raw material and final product transporting trucks parked in a dedicated parking area near the factory exit gate towards National Highway was observed. The trucks were properly covered to avoid escape of material, wherever necessary (Image 23 to 25, Annexure XVII - 13 The industry has made encroachment into the Devaka River and there is requirement of a safe buffer zone with the river and safe belt of almost more than 20 mtrs. width is encroached. There is no marking of flood line for Devaka River. Along the river, the industry has constructed a boundary wall at approx distance 3.50 meter from the river path and there is a pedestrian path along the river. The industry was established in 1963. There were no such guidelines for the buffer zone when the industry was established. The committee has also visited the area around the boundary wall up to the temple through the pedestrian path and it is free for movement for anybody. Municipality/district administration and irrigation department needs to ascertain the facts about the encroachment and marking of the flood line. 14 Industry is directly dumping solid waste and sludge into the Devaka river No such disposal or sign of disposal of solid waste and sludge were observed during the inspection along the river path flowing by the industry. The solid waste dumped/spread in the river is from Veraval town (Image 33 & 34, Annexure XVII - Photographs). 15 The industry is directly discharging effluents into the Devaka River through gutter connected to river from plant. A natural drain is passing outside the premises of the industry. Natural drain and surrounding areas are under ownership of Grasim Industries Ltd. (Figure 1D). This natural drain carries domestic waste from residential colonies and commercial complexes of Veraval city (viz. Tagore Nagar, Gayatri Nagar, Shakti Nagar, Bihari Nagar, Sripal Society, Teacher Colony, Marketing Yard, Mochi Nagar, Hudco Society) situated on the upstream of the drain. Inside the plant premise signs of neither illegal water discharge nor solid waste discharge were observed around the natural drain. There was no direct discharge of domestic sewage generated from industry or its residential colony. The industry had laid down marine pipeline for discharge of treated trade effluent 16 Due to sharing of boundaries with the residential area and no buffer zone, there is effect on the resident and huge obstacle to the traffic on National Highway-8 (NH8). Industry was established in the year 1963 and residential development in the vicinity progressed later. This indicates, there is no proper planning of revenue area under Gram Panchayat/Municipality for Town planning and residential development The industry has two gates i.e. main/entry gate and Junagadh gate which opens on Highway. The industry has recently modified Junagadh gate (towards National Highway) to avoid direct exit on the road. There might be traffic congestion during peak hours. 17 The transportation of hazardous chemicals is done with carelessness and there are number of accidents for leakages of hazardous chemicals and gases in the vicinity of the industries. There are no such incidents reported as per GPCB record since the last five years. 18 There are number of incidents of CS2 and H2S gas leakage, but GPCB and District health & safety department have not taken any action. There are no such incidents as per GPCB records since last five years. 19 Not installed firefighting system as per norms. Sh. S.M. Consultants have carried out third party safety audit of the industry for the year 2018-19. The audit is carried out to review the documents, compliance of procedures, statuettes, etc. as per the scope mentioned in IS:14489 and Gujarat Factory Rules, 1963. It is informed that the industry has provided 969 nos. of portable fire extinguishers of different types which are maintained as per BIS standards. The unit has installed fixed/automatic fire fighting system by installing water sprinklers on Chlorine bullet and CS2 tank.. As per safety audit report conducted by Sh. S.M. Consultants, the industry is found to be complied with 66 & 66A of Gujarat Factories Act, 1963. (Fire Safety) 20 Not developed the green belt of 33% and there is no 10-meter-wide periphery green belt around the plant boundary. The industry has submitted plantation program details and map highlighting plantation area. The details are provided in Annexure-XV (Green Belt Map). 21 Not complying towards the CSR & ESR policies and funds are misused for their own benefits under the garb of CSR & ESR policy. It is informed that the industry is conducting social activities through Indian Rayon - Jan Seva Trust, Veraval and half yearly supplementing report with “Compliance Status Report ECs accorded by MoEF & CC”. The details are provided in as supplement in EC compliance Report (Annexure-XIII EC Compliance) submitted by the industry for the term ending Jun 2020. The industry has also provided statement of expenditure towards CSR activities (Annexure-XVI CSR). 22 Undertaken number of modifications in the existing plant without obtaining prior permissions from the concern departments and there is substantial change in the scope of the project. The industry has obtained Consent to Establish (CTE) from GPCB before any modification in consented plants and/or installation of new plant. In addition, they have obtained clearances from concerned regulatory authorities prior applying for CTE (Annexure - IV Summary of Clearances). 23 The industry has not installed the ambient air quality monitoring stations as per the GPCB directions. The industry has installed 3 CAAQMS (Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station) at locations as detailed below: 1. On terrace of the Rayon ADM building, 2. On terrace of the Caustic ADM building and 3. On terrace of the guest house. The online results of CAAQMS installed on Rayon ADM building are relayed on electronic display kept towards road side of main entrance for public display (Annexure X OCEMS). 24 The industry has not installed the noise control systems and there is no such measures and there is huge noise pollution in the vicinity of the project causing birds & human habitants It is informed by the industry that noise monitoring carried out periodically at various places including the boundaries of the industry and residential area and has maintained noise data. Precautions are taken for controlling noise such as installation of acoustic enclosure panel at Ash compressors, Silencer fitting at Vent line. Kindly refer to Table 5.4 of this report, for details of Noise monitoring carried out on 16.10.2020 and monitoring results. It is observed from the noise monitoring results that the measured values of noise, during the day time are within the norms prescribed at two residential locations and two industrial locations whereas the measured values are at night are also within norms except one residential area i.e. Guest house, Adityanagar, Indian Rayon premises. Also, precautions taken by the respondent to control noise in Power Plant and allied activity is provided at Annexure XIV (Coal Handling pp - 33). 25 It is mandatory to obtain the CRZ Clearance for the MoEF&CC under the CRZ Notification-199l & 2011. But there is no such clearance obtained by Respondent No. 1 from MoEF&CC till date. The Recommendation of GCZMA vide its Order dated 06.10.2008 & 12.02.2009 for treated effluent disposal pipeline cannot be considered as CRZ clearance granted to the project under challenge. The Project is situated at the sangam of Devaka River and Arabian sea and this section is clearly affected by the CRZ area but GCZMA has intentionally neglected to mark this area to provide the benefits of non-CRZ to the industry. It is totally false on part of MoEFCC to state that the Arabian Sea is at 700 Mtrs. As per information given by the unit, the industry was established in year of 1963 i.e. well before the enforcement of CRZ Rules (1991). Hence, CRZ Rules was not applicable at the time of establishment. Earlier, the unit was discharging their effluent into the sea creak through an open channel and was being mixed with Devka river and carried in to open sea. Thereafter, the unit obtained CRZ clearance from MoEF & CC for installation of marine pipeline along with pumping station for disposal of treated effluent in the year of 2008 (dt 20.10.2008) and obtained consent to establish from GPCB and installed marine pipeline which is in use since 2009 (dt 07.12.2009) after getting consent to operate for the disposal of treated trade effluent. The industry is going to establish Sea Water Desalination Plant for an alternative source of water for which CTE is obtained from GPCB and CRZ clearance application is under process with GCZMA. Thus, the industry has taken CRZ clearance for the project where it is applicable i.e. marine pipeline along with pumping station and its CRZ clearance application is under process with GCZMA for Sea Water Desalination Plant. GCZMA has not neglected any section/area to provide the benefits of non-CRZ to the industry. The industry possesses valid EC and CRZ clearance (for marine pipeline & pumping station) from concerned regulatory authorities (Annexure-IV Summary of Clearances & Consents).

“7.0 Recommendations:

Base on the inspection-cum-monitoring following are recommended:

• Analysis results of STP sampling shows BOD marginally exceeds the standards and therefore industry should improve its STP operation to meet the prescribed norms.

• It is advisable to improve/beautify surrounding area of natural drain including stone pitching along the natural drain in the premises of the industry in consultation with concerned authorities

• The industry should expedite the work related to recycling of wastewater to the maximum extent.

• Municipality should restrict throwing/dumping of solid waste into the Devka river and clean periodically with awareness among the citizens.”

6. We accept the report and direct that recommendations in the report be acted upon by the Project Proponent-Indian Rayon (A unit of Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd.), Junagadh - Veraval, District Gir Somnath, Gujarat which may be overseen by the concerned statutory regulators. If any grievance survives, the aggrieved parties will be at liberty to take remedies, in accordance with law.

7. The application is disposed of.