Animesh Dey and 9 Ors v. The Union of India and 9 Ors

PageoNo.#o1/6 GAHC010089592023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oPIL/40/2023o ANIMESHoDEYoANDo9oORSo S/OoLATEoSAMARENDRAoKRoDEY,oR/OoSUBASHoNAGAR,oWARDoNO.o5,o LANKAoTOWN,oP.O.-LANKA,oDIST-NAGAON,oASSAM,oPIN-782446 2:oKANCHANoSILoDAS oS/OoBIMALoSIL oR/OoSUBASHoNAGAR oWARDoNO.o5 oPIN-782446 3:oPARAMITAoROYoSAHA oW/OoBIPULoSAHA oR/OoSUBASHoNAGAR oWARDoNO.o5 oPIN-782446 4:oRAMoPRASADoROY oS/OoLATEoMONORONJANoROY oR/OoSUBASHoNAGAR oWARDoNO.o8 oPIN-782446 PageoNo.#o2/6 5:oPARTHAoSARATHIoPAUL oS/OoLATEoGOPALoPAUL oR/OoSUBASHoNAGAR oWARDoNO.o2 oPIN-782446 6:oMITRAoCHANDRA oS/OoLATEoPREMANUoPAUL oR/OoWARDoNO.o9 oPIN-782446 7:oAVIJIToROY oS/OoLATEoKANUoROY oR/OoWARDoNO.o6 oPIN-782446 8:oGOBINDAoMAZUMDER oS/OoLATEoGAURANGAoMAZUMDAR oR/OoWARDoNO.o6 oPIN-782446 9:oKANKANoDHAR oS/OoLATEoRABINDRAoKRoDHAR oR/OoWARDoNO.o6 oPIN-782446 10:oHARJIToSINGH oS/OoKARMIToSINGH PageoNo.#o3/6 oR/OoWARDoNO.o1 oPIN-78244o VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo9oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoMINISTRYoOFoRAILWAY,oNEWo DELHI-11001 2:THEoOFFICEoOFoTHEoGENERALoMANAGER oN.F.oRAILWAY oP.O.-MALIGAON oASSAMoGUWAHATI-781001 3:THEoDIVISIONALoRAILWAYoMANAGER oN.F.oRAILWAYoLUMDINGoDIVISION oLUMDING oP.O.-LUMDINGoPIN-782447 4:THEoREGIONALoOFFICE oPOLLUTIONoCONTROLoBOARDoOFoASSAM oNAGAONoASSAM oPIN-782001 5:THEoPOLLUTIONoCONTROLoBAORDoOFoASSAM oBAMUNIMAIDAM oPIN-781021 6:THEoCENTRALoPOLLUTIONoCONTROLoBOARD oNEWoDELHI-110032 7:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEo DEPARTMENToOFoENVIRONMENToANDoFOREST oDISPURoGUWAHATI-6 8:THEoSUBoDIVISIONALoOFFICERo(CIVIL) oHOJAIoSUBoDIVISION oSHANKARDEVoNAGAR oHOJAI oNAGAONoASSAM oPIN-782442 Page No.# 4/6 9:THE MANAGING AUTHORITY DALMIA CEMENT (BHARAT) LTD PIPAL PHUKURI P.O.-LANKA DIST-NAGAON ASSAM PIN-782446 10:DALMIA CEMENT (NORTH EAST) LTD. THE MANAGING AUTHORITY DALMIA CEMENT (BHARAT) LTD. PIPAL PHUKURI P.O-LANKA DIST-NAGAON ASSAM PIN-782446

For the petitioner : Mr. A.R. Sikdar, Advocate For the respondents : Ms. S. Baruah, Advocate for For respondent Nos.1, 2 & 3 Mr. S. Baruah, S.C., PCB, For respondent Nos.4, 5 & 6 Mr. J. Roy, Sr. Advocate Assisted by Mr. S.R. Gogoi, Advocate for respondent Nos.9 & 10 – B E F O R E – HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. VIJAY BISHNOI HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE N. UNNI KRISHNAN NAIR 25-09-2024 (Vijay Bishnoi, C.J.) By this PIL petition, the petitioner has raised a grievance regarding the pollution caused at the Lanka Railway Station while loading and unloading of the harmful dust materials like fly-ash, clinker, pet coke, coal and cement and other raw material from one destination to another destination. This Court taking note of the issue raised in this PIL petition has issued Page No.# 5/6 notices to the respondents. Response was filed on behalf of the Pollution Control Board, Assam (hereinafter to be referred as 'PCBA') wherein it is mentioned that after receipt of the complaint about the pollution caused at the Lanka Railway Station on account of loading and unloading of raw material, the PCBA issued notices to the Railway authorities in the month of May, 2024 and directed the Railway authorities to take strict measures to contain the pollution at the Lanka Railway Station. On subsequent dates, responses were filed on behalf of the Railway as well as the PCBA and ultimately, the PCBA has issued a "Consent to Operate" dated 10.09.2024 to the Lanka Goods Shed, Northeast Frontier Railway with certain general and specific conditions. The general condition provides that the Railway authorities shall take steps to contain the pollution at Lanka Railway Station during loading and unloading operation of raw material. The specific conditions are imposed in respect of air aspect, water aspect, plastic waste aspect, E waste aspect and hazardous waste aspect. It is also mentioned in the "Consent to Operate" order that the unit shall submit compliance report of the mandated conditions by April 15, every year to the Member Secretary, PCBA as well as to Regional Office, Nagaon, PCBA. It is further mentioned in the "Consent to Operate" order that the PCBA will have the liberty to withdraw the "Consent to Operate" order if adequate pollution control and safety measures are not taken and the mandated conditions are not complied. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that in the "Consent to Operate" order, the PCBA has not specified the manner in which the loading and unloading operations are to be conducted. After hearing the learned counsel for the petitioner, we are of the view that in the "Consent to Operate" order, the PCBA has imposed general and Page No.# 6/6 specific conditions upon the industry with the direction to maintain the pollution level under control on all the aspects. Needless to say that if the industry fails to maintain the pollution level under control and if also fails to maintain adequate pollution control and safety measures, the PCBA is always free to take action against the said industry in accordance with law. In view of the above, we are of the view that no further order is required to be passed in this PIL petition and the same is, therefore, disposed of.

JUDGE CHIEF JUSTICE Comparing Assistant