Shailesh Singh Vs State Of Uttar Pradesh And Ors

AI Structured Summary

Not yet generated for this judgment

Judgment

813 paragraphs · 12,685 words

This Application has been filed against the alleged environmental degradation and pollution caused by the illegal and unauthorised operation of slaughter houses of Respondent nos. 2 to 4 in collusion with the other Respondents in District Ghaziabad (U.P). The Applicant who is a journalist by profession claims to be a public spirited person interested in the protection of the environment. It is also alleged that Respondent Nos. 2, 3 and 4 are illegally extracting a large quantities of ground water resulting into lowering of water table in the District of Ghaziabad which is otherwise an 'over exploited' area and releasing the waste water containing animal organs, including blood and other hazardous effluents, into the open municipal drains eventually leading to the tributaries of river Ganga and Yamuna. He has also raised the issue of slaughtering of milch and pregnant animals besides the issue of air pollution caused by release of harmful gases from the rendering plants run by the Respondents units in an illegal and unauthorized manner in violation and contravention of Air (Prevention and control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Establishment and Regulation of Societies for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) Rules, 2001 (for short "Rules of 2001"), Environment Protection Act, 1986 and Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000.

The factual matrix of the case as brought out by the Applicant reveals that Respondent No. 2 (M/s Eagle Continental Foods Pvt., Ltd.) situated at Bhoorgarhi Dasana, District Ghaziabad is a slaughter house established and in operation since 1982 without any consent or any permission from UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA). The slaughter house has a production capacity of nearly 150 MT of meat per day and that the aforesaid production capacity cannot be attained from the number of animals for which permission has been sought by Respondent No. 2 from UPPCB. Such a huge quantity of production is done by the Respondent in violation of environmental laws as no consent had been granted to it by any of the official Respondents i.e., UPPCB, CPCB and CGWA.

The Respondent No. 3 (M/s Al-Nafees Frozen Foods Exports Pvt., Ltd.) is also situated in Bhoorgarhi, Dasna, District Ghaziabad and its production is a huge quantity of meat per day. It is submitted that its capacity cannot be attained from the number of animals for which permission has been granted by UPPCB. The additional production that is done by the Respondents is in violation of environmental laws as no consent has been granted by any of the official respondent's, namely, UPPCB, CPCB and CGWA.

The Respondent no. 4 (M/s Jeva Agro Pvt., Ltd.,) is a meat processing unit situated in Bhoorgarhi, Dasna, District Ghaziabad and like other Respondents is also operating in violation of the environmental laws. It is the submission of the Applicant that the Respondent Nos. 2 to 4 are extracting large quantities of ground water for washing and cleaning process as is evident from a RTI reply dated 10th December, 2015 received from UPPCB. In particular, Respondent No. 2, 3 and 4 consume 700 KLD, 1,000 KLD and 5 KLD of ground water respectively but infact the above 3 slaughter houses are extracting much more ground water than what is stated above without the permission of CGWA. The Applicant has also drawn attention to the affidavit of CGWA filed earlier in O.A No. 38/2016 which states :

"As regards illegal extraction of ground water, it is respectfully submitted that as per the records of CGWA, no slaughter house in the District of Bulandshehar, Ghaziabad and Sambhal have so far applied for permission to extract ground water"

It is the case of Applicant that the area where the slaughter houses are located has been identified as "over exploited" area by the CGWA in terms of its public notice issued in Hindustan Times on 4th April, 1999 and the list issued by the Ministry of Water Resources on 29th August, 2013. Further, in terms of the guidelines, use of ground water in the notified area / over exploited area is limited only for drinking purposes. The Applicant has also drawn attention of order of the Tribunal dated 15th April, 2015 in Krishan Kant Singh Vs. M/s Deoria Paper Ltd., Hata Road Narainpur Deoria and other connected matters (in O.A No. 35/2015 and other connected Applications) directing the CGWA to ensure that any person operating tubewell or any means to extract ground water should obtain its permission and should operate the same subject to law in force even if such unit is existing or the unit is still to be established. The grievance of the Applicant is that despite issue of public notice by CGWA dated 4th April, 1999, the guidelines of CGWA dated 15th November, 2012, the order of the Tribunal dated 15th December, 2015 and the direction issued by the CPCB to all slaughter houses on 13th July, 2015 none of the Respondents have applied for the permission to extract ground water. The Applicant further alleges that Respondent No. 2 has not been granted consent to operate till date in terms of information provided by the UPPCB and the Respondent No. 3 (Al-Nafees Frozen Foods Exports Pvt., Ltd.) slaughter house were refused/returned NOC/ Consent due to incomplete information. The NOC to Respondent No. 4 (M/s Jeva Agro Pvt., Ltd.) has been refused NoC vide letter dated 31st October, 2012 and no consent has been granted till date. The Respondents slaughter houses have not complied with the CPCB directions dated 31st July, 2015 whereby they have been identified as grossly polluted industries which have been discharging effluent directly or indirectly on land and water and have potential threat to cause adverse effect on land and the water quality and accordingly the CPCB has further directed the units to install flow meters and web cameras along with direction to comply with ZLD norms.

The Respondent No. 5 (Principal Secretary, Animal Husbandry Department, State of U.P) in his brief affidavit has raised objections to the Applicant raising issue of alleged violations of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 and pointing out that the said Act is not part of the Schedule I of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Act 2010 and, therefore, Applicant cannot invoke jurisdiction of this Tribunal for any violation under the said Act of 1960 and has, therefore, questioned the maintainability of the application qua the above prayer per se.

The Respondent No. 6 (UPPCB) in their reply have pointed out that the Respondent No. 2, M/s Eagle Continental Foods Pvt., Ltd., Dasna, Ghaziabad were granted consent to establish vide letter No-F-13035/C-1/NOC/G-386/2006/20 dated 28th February, 2007 for production of frozen meat of 50 MT/day by slaughtering of 400 buffalos and 200 goats/sheep per day. Further, the consent to operate to the Respondent No. 2 was renewed under the Water and Air Acts vide letters no. F-74043/C-1/Sahmati Jal/G-1878/2016 dated 19th February, 2016 and F-74042/C-1/Vayu Sahmati/G-1647/2016 dated 19th February, 2016 and is valid up to 31st December, 2017. In so far as Respondent No. 3, M/s Al-Nafees Frozen Foods Exports Pvt., Ltd., Dasna, Ghaziabad is concerned the consent to operate under the Water and Air Acts was granted vide letter No-F-74081/C-1/Sahmati Jal/G-318/2016 dated 19th February, 2016 and F-74082/C-1/Vayu Sahmati/G-428/2016 dated 19th February, 2016 and the same is valid upto 31st December, 2017. As regards Respondent No. 3, M/s Jeva Agro Pvt., Ltd., Bhugrari Dasna, Ghaziabad the unit has only installed a rendering plant and do not have a slaughter house. The Respondents have not been issued any consent to operate and the said unit was closed during joint inspection conducted on 23rd June, 2014 as the Respondents have not obtained consent to operate from the Board. Subsequently, the unit was sealed by joint committee of SDM, Ghaziabad, CVO, Ghaziabad and the UPPCB on 11th June, 2016 and during the joint inspection the industry was found not in operation. The Board have also issued direction for M/s Jeva Agro Pvt. Ltd., Bhugrari Dasna, Ghaziabad not to operate the slaughter house without compliance of NOC condition and prior consent form the Board vide letter no. F 49339/C-1/NOC/G-765/2014 dated 29th June, 2014. This was confirmed by the joint committee during their inspection on 18th May, 2016.

The Respondent NO. 8 (CGWA) in their reply affidavit pointed out that three blocks, namely, Bhojpur, Lori, Razapur of Ghaziabad District are categorised as 'over exploited' by the CGWB as per the last resource assessment carried out by them. Further, the Ghaziabad District is categorised as 'over exploited' with stage of development at 105 %. With reference to whether the Respondent nos. 2, 3 & 4 have the permission of the CGWA, the affidavit filed on 13th July, 2016 has furnished a statement of the industries alongwith the status of their application with regard to permission for extraction of groundwater. The Respondent Nos. 2 and 3 are listed at serial no. 4 and 5 wherein the affidavit states that the regret letter have been issued to the industries on their applications for groundwater extraction due to deficiencies found in their application.

The Respondent No. 1 (State of U.P) has not filed any reply although the reply of Respondent No. 5 (Principal Secretary, Animal Husbandry Department, State of U.P) and Respondent No. 9 (District Magistrate, Ghaziabad, U.P) is on record.

The Respondent No. 2 ( M/s Eagle Continental Food Pvt., Ltd.,) in their reply affidavit have submitted that the unit has a production capacity of 60 MT as certified by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and being registered with APEDA. They are a reputed supplier with top international standards, maintain strict hygiene and sanitation norms. The animal before slaughter are examined by in-house veterinary doctors before being taken to the abattoir and once the products are fully frozen and ready, these are packed in master cartons specially meant for exports. These master cartons are strapped, sealed, ad passed through a metal detector in order to maintain safety of the products. Frozen meat is kept in the cold storages at a temperature of Minus 18 degree Celsius till its dispatch for exports. The product are certified as quality produce of India by APEDA. The company is ISO 900:2008, HACCP and ISO 22000 certified for quality and food safety management. The annual turnover of the company is in excess of US $ 80.00 millions. The company's plant is a state of the art integrated buffalo abattoir and meat processing unit which is a complete integrated unit having a production capacity up to 60mt.

10.

It is the Contention of the Respondent No. 2 that the Applicant has suppressed a very material fact from the Hon'ble Tribunal at the time of obtaining the ex-parte ad-interim restraint order dated 8th June, 2016 that the unit, among other similar units, were inspected on 19th May, 2016 by joint inspection consisting of authorities from members from Pollution Control Department, Animal Husbandry Department, Fire Safety Officer, Sub Divisional Magistrate and the police and the Report dated 1st June, 2016 filed by the members of the said joint team which was submitted to the District Magistrate, Ghaziabad found no illegality or irregularity in the functioning of the unit.

11.

The Respondent have averred that the Applicant is in the habit of filling petitions on wrong premise without ascertaining the facts and alleged that M/s Eagle Continental Food Pvt., Ltd., was running a slaughter house illegally and unauthorizedly, without any licenses/permissions/NOCs from the concerned authorities which is factually incorrect and denied. The Respondent pointed out that they have all the statutory clearances from the authority including the NOC from UPPCB for establishing the unit, the NOC from the Office of District Magistrate, Ghaziabad, and they have applied for obtaining NOC from the CGWA vide online application dated 1st February, 2016. The Respondent further point out that there was no such requirement for seeking permission for extraction of ground water at the time of establishment of the unit but has been made mandatory recently and accordingly they have applied for the said permission to CGWA. It is further submitted that the very same Applicant Mr. Shailesh Singh has already filed similar Original Application No. 38/2016 in respect of slaughter houses in U.P and the matter is in seisin before the larger bench of the NGT with the same kind of matter and the present application not only lacks bona fide but was also is an abuse of the process of law.

12.

The Respondent in their M.A No. 1159/2016 filed on 7th November, 2016 have placed on record a copy of the NOC for groundwater withdrawal granted by CGWA in their favour, in respect of their existing Food Processing unit located at Khasra No. 1876, Kallugarhi Road, Dasna, Village Dasna Dehat, Block Rajapur, District Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh wherein permission have been granted to the unit to abstract 450 cu.m/day (not exceeding 135000cu.m/year) of ground water through existing 3 tube wells. The conditions that the industry will implement groundwater recharge measures at least to the tune of 327000 cu.m/year for augmenting the ground water resources of the area within 6 months from the date of issue of this letter. In addition, the firm shall adopt 2 to 3 villages for Water Security Plan in District Ghaziabad, U.P besides certain other conditions.

13.

The Respondent No. 2 in their M.A No. 644/2016 had sought directions from the Tribunal to dismiss the present Original Application and to permit the Respondents unit to function, keeping in view the order dated 13th June, 2016 of the UPPCB passed in compliance of the Hon'ble Supreme Court Order dated 26th June, 2016 which reads :

" In view of the above contention, while not interfering with the impugned order, we direct that the appellant shall be heard by the State Board after notice to the complainant. The State Board is directed to decide the matter within one week. The order passed by the State Board shall be operative subject to the decision in the matter pending before the National Green Tribunal.

(Emphasis added)"

An operative part of the order of the UPPCB is reproduced as under:

" In view of the hearing and considering the documents submitted by the industry/unit as well as report of the Regional Officer, Ghaziabad, the Board is of the opinion that M/s Eagle Continental Foods Pvt., Ltd., Dasna Ghaziabad is complying unit with respect to Water and Air pollution.

Since Hon'ble NGT has directed closure of the unit of M/s Eagle Continental Foods Pvt., Ltd., it is the fact that it was having a valid consent to operate. The appeal filed against the said order has been disposed of by Hon'ble Supreme Court and furtherance thereof M/s Eagle Continental Foods Pvt., Ltd., has to approach Hon'ble NGT for further order.

The representation of M/s Eagle Continental Foods Pvt., Ltd., Ghaziabad is accordingly disposed of."

14.

This M.A No. 644/2016 was taken up for hearing on 8th July, 2016 and the Tribunal after hearing the parties passed the order vacating the interim injunction which was granted ex-parte by the Tribunal vide order dated 8th June, 2016. The order dated 8th July, 2016 is as under:

" This is an Application filed by Respondent No. 2 to dismiss the Original Application No. 318 of 2016 and to direct the concerned authorities to allow Respondent No. 2 to function till the decision of the Original Application No. 318 of 2016 is taken. By Order dated 8th June, 2016 while issuing notice to the Respondents, taking note of the letter issued by District Magistrate Ghaziabad to the Principal Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, Government of UP dated 24th June, 2014, the Tribunal passed the Order restraining Respondent No. 2, the Applicant herein, Respondent No. 3, the Applicant in M.A. No. 645 of 2016 and Respondent No. 4 from operating the slaughter houses. The Original Application stands posted to 15th July, 2016. Aggrieved by the ex-parte Order passed by the Tribunal, the Respondent No. 2 approached the Hon'ble Supreme Court by Civil Appeal No. 5344 of 2016. The Hon'ble

Supreme Court disposed of the civil appeal holding that the State Board should have heard the aggrieved parties before passing the Order. In view of the facts and circumstances, the State Board was directed to dispose the matter within one week. The Hon'ble Supreme Court directed that the "Order passed by the State Board shall be operative subject to the decision in the matter pending before the National Green Tribunal." The Applicant, Respondent No. 2 was, thereafter, heard by the UPPCB and passed the Order dated 30th June, 2016 finding that the unit is a compliant unit with respect to water and air pollution. The case of the Applicant is that the Hon'ble Supreme Court is monitoring the working of the slaughter houses and infact a Joint Inspection was conducted on 1st June, 2016 and the Joint inspection Report shows that the unit is a compliant unit having all the necessary licenses and permissions and in the light of these Orders, the ex-parte Order passed on June 8th, 2016 is to be vacated.

Though the Learned Counsel appearing for the Applicant submitted that the Original Application is also to be dismissed, at this stage, without hearing the Original Applicant in the Original Application, the Original Application cannot be dismissed, even though the Applicant and their Counsel are absent today, as the Original Application stands posted to 15th July, 2016. But as it is clear that the Respondent No. 2 is a compliant unit having all the necessary permission and authority, the interim ex-parte Order passed on 8th June, 2016 stands vacated.

As a natural corollary, the unit is entitled to operate."

15.

Respondent No. 3 (M/s Al Nafees Frozen Foods Exports Pvt., Ltd.) is a company incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, 1956 which came into existence in the year 1987. The unit has a production capacity of 225mt/day as certified by APEDA and being registered with APEDA, he is a reputed supplier with top international standards, strict hygiene and sanitation norms. The animal before slaughter are examined by in-house veterinary doctors before being taken to the abattoir and once the products are fully frozen and ready these are packed in master cartons specially meant for exports, these master cartons are strapped, sealed, ad passed through a metal detector in order to maintain safety of the products. Frozen meat is kept in the cold storages at a temperature of Minus 18 degree Celsius till its dispatch for exports. The product are certified as quality produce of India by APEDA. The company is HACCP and ISO 22000 certified for quality and food safety management. The annual turnover of the company for last three years is in excess of USD 138.15 millions The company's plant is a state of the art integrated buffalo abattoir and meat processing unit which is a complete integrated unit having a production capacity up to 225mt.

16.

The Respondent submits that the impugned interim order of 8 th June, 2016 which is ex-parte order passed by the tribunal is on a wrong premise as if the Applicant was running a slaughter house illegally and unauthorizedly, though they have all the clearances in place. The Respondent further submits that the applicant in his Original Application has heavily relied upon the letter dated 26th April, 2014 sent by District Magistrate, Ghaziabad to the Principal Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, Government of U.P., wherein it was recommended by him in a very cryptic manner to suspend the NOC/Licenses of this Respondent, among others, even as the said recommendation appears to have never been accepted and this Respondent's licenses/NOCs were not cancelled by any authority till date. He has also raised the question of limitation as the said letter dated 24th April, 2014 of the District Magistrate which appears to have been filed on 28th June, 2016 and, therefore, is clearly and irretrievably barred by limitation as prescribed under Section 14(3) of the NGT Act. He has further submitted that even on the day i.e., 8th June, 2016 when the matter was taken up by the Tribunal at the time of obtaining the ex-parte restraint order passed, the unit among other similar units were also inspected on 19th May, 2016 by the joint team of concerned authorities, comprising of officers from Pollution Control Department, Animal Husbandry Department, Fire Safety Officer, Sub-Divisional Magistrate and the Police and a Report dated 1st June, 2016 prepared by 6 Members of the joint team in which the Committee found no illegality or irregularity in the functioning of the unit. An extract of the Report dated 1st June, 2016 submitted by the Committee to District Magistrate, Ghaziabad is reproduced below in respect of industries of Respondent No. 2 to 3:

"ANNEXURE: R-2/8 (Contd.)

(English Translation)

OFFICE FO THE SUB DIVISIONAL MAGISTRATE GHAZIABAD

DATED 1ST June-2016

Letter No. Memo/S.T,-SDM/ Ghaziabad - 2016

District Magistrate

Ghaziabad

-----------------------

Subject:

Submission of the inspection Report after carrying out Surprise Inspection of some Operational Slaughter Houses/Meat Processing Units in the District, in compliance with the order passed by the Honorable Supreme Court in Civil Writ Nos. 309/2003 and 330/2001

Ref.:

1673/J.A.-2/Inspection. dated 13.04.2016 699/J.A.-2/ Inspection/Food Frozen/2016 Dated 26.04.2016 1714/J.A.-2/Misc./2016 Dated 30.04.2016

Sir,

Kindly take reference of the Memo No. 1673/J.A.- 2/Inspection dated 13.04.2016 by which the undersigned has been directed to constitute a Team under his leadership to carry out Surprise Inspection of M/s Eagle Continental Foods Pvt. Ltd. and M/s Al-Nafees Exports Pvt. Ltd. and to report the serious irregularities if found during the inspection.

In compliance with the order, a surprise inspection of the aforesaid units as well as two other units namely M/s International Agro Foods and M/s Al-Nasir was also carried out by a Joint Team of the Officers of The District Animal Husbandry Department, The Police Department., and the Pollution Control Department.

The separate Inspection Report of Each Unit is as following:

EAGLE CONTINENTAL FOODS PVT., LTD., DASNA, GHAZIABAD

On checking of the Ante-mortem Register, it was found that on 18.05.2016, ante-mortem of 56 buffaloes was done and out of these animals, one animal was rejected. The Ante-mortem certificates were found duly signed by the veterinarians working in the units as well as by the Government Veterinary Officer deputed at the unit. During the Inspection the slaughtering work was being done. Mr. V.P.Singh the factory Manager was present as the Industry Representative.

The own microbiology laboratory of the unit was inspected where mirobiologist Ms. Kajal Verma was present. She was testing 1. E. Coll, 2. Staphylococus Aureous, 3. Total Plate Count, 4. Salmonella, 5. Yeast and Mould in meat.

The Registration documents of the Private Veterinary of the unit were checked which were 'found' -in line with the Veterinary Council of the Government. The veterinarians were working as per standards. The APEDA Registration Certificate issued to the unit on 30.04.2015 was checked which is valid till 29.04.2017. The unit is permitted to slaughter 400 buffaloes per day and the APEDA Registration No. of the unit is 83.

Gate Pass Book No. 189/dated 12.05.16 was checked. The rejection record of the animals from 12.05.016 to 18.05.2016 was found correct.

The unit has been granted License No. 1001451000873 dated 02.0 1.2014 by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

The unit has been established under the License of the Factory Act 1928 Form No. 3, Rule No. 7(1) which is valid upto 31.12.2016.

The unit has been issued IEC no. 0506010902 by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the date of issuance is 19.05.2016.

With the slaughtering 400 buffaloes and 200 Sheep/Goats per day, the unit produces 50 Metric Ton, Frozen Meat / day, 20 Metric Ton Bone Meal/ day and 07 Metric Ton Tallow/Day. The unit has set up 2 tube wells of 5 H.P. and 1 tube well of 3 H.P. capacity for supply of water. Water Meters have been installed on tube wells for measuring the quantity of the water. The water in the unit is used for domestic purpose, for Cooling, for Boiler Feed and for Industrial Purpose. The disposal of the domestic discharge is done by way of Septic Tank and Soak Pit. The Industrial Discharge is approximately 400 KL/Day, and for its treatment following units have been installed which are operational:- Rotary Fiber Screen, Oil Grease Trap, Equalization Tank Holding Tank, Flash Mixing Tank, Primary Clarifier, Aeration Tank-1, Secondary Clarifier, Aeration Tank-2, Secondary Clarifier-2, Sludge Thickener, Sand Filter, Activated Carbon Filter, V-Notch Chamber and Filter Press. Moreover, a separate energy meter in the E.T.P. is installed for measuring Electricity Consumption. A log book is being maintained regarding operation of the ETP and the electricity consumption therein. During the inspection a water sample was collected from the treated discharged water and analyzed in the Laboratory of the Regional Office. As per the Analysis Report, pH-07, TSS-26.0 mg/L, BOD 22.0 mg/L, COD 64.4 mg/L and Oil & Grease 3.8 mg/L were found which are as per the Standards of the Board. The. Industry has installed Online Water Quality Monitoring system for continuous monitoring of the discharged water. For disposal of the solid waste, generated in the process of slaughtering of the animals, the Unit has established a Rendering Plant and a Blood Meal Plant. The fume generated in the process of cooking in the Vessel Cooker, is controlled by a Bio-filter which is installed in the unit. A 5 Ton/Hour capacity Boiler is installed in the unit for generation of Steam and to fire the boiler, wood is used, as fuel. Approx. 8 MT/day wood is consumed by the boiler. Emission generated by the boiler is controlled by a Multi Cyclone Dust Collector with a chimney whose height is 30 Meter from the Ground. There are D.G. sets of 1000 KVA, 500 KVA and 250 KVA in the unit and, for controlling of the sound pollution Acoustic Enclosures are installed on D.Q. Sets. The Air and Water

Consent from the Lucknow Board Office, has been granted to the Industry which is valid till 31.12.2017.

AL-NAFEES FFROZEN FOODS, DASNA, GHAZIABAD

On perusal of Ante-mortem register, it was found that in the Ante-mortem Register dated 18.05.2016, ante-mortem of 56 Bovine animals was done by the Private Veterinarians, from those, 07 animals were rejected. Any animal was not found in large at the site.

Registration Certificates of the Private Veterinarians of the Unit were inspected, which are according to the Veterinary Board. Veterinarians have been working according to the norms.

APEDA Registration of the Unit was checked. APEDA Registration of the Unit was Number 72 and was made on dated 02.03.2015 and is valid upto 27.02.2017.

Perused Gate Pass, the Gate Pass Book No. is 20 at serial number 17 dated 18.05.2016, which was found correct according to the rejection.

License is received vide License Number 10013051000836, valid from dated 09.12.2013 to 08.12.2018, has been issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

Private Microorganism Laboratory of the Unit is inspected, where Shri Sachin Kumar (Microorganism Expert) was present Microorganisms are being used in the Laboratory according to the norms.

The industry, by slaughtering Work of 300 buffalos and 500 sheep/she-goat per shift, produces frozen meat 90 M. Ton/day, Bone Meal - 30 M. Ton per day and Tallo-10 M Ton/per day. At present, by making slaughtering work of buffalo only, the production work is being carried on in the Unit. The Industry has installed 03 Tubewells of 05 H.P. capacity. Water Meter is installed at the tube-well to measure the volume of the water, The Industry consumes the water for domestic purpose, cooling boiler feed and Industrial purpose. Disposal of domestic outflow is made through Septic Tank, Soak Pl. For the industrial outflow, volume of which is about 600 K/L per day, Units of Bar Screen, Oil & Grease trap, Rotary Fiber Screen, Equalization Tank, Chemical. Dosing Tank, Tube Settler, Dual Media Filter, Aeration Tank - 1, Secondary Clarifier - 1, Aeration Tank - 2, Secondary Clarifier - II, Dual Media Filter Press/SDB are established and operated. Besides above, energy Meter is installed separately for the reading of electric consumption in E.T.P, Log Book is being maintained in connection with operation of E.T.P and electricity consumption. At the time of inspection after collecting the sample of the outflow after the purification, its analysis (test) was got done in the Laboratory of the Regional Office. According to the analysis report pH-6.8, TSS-28.0 MG/1, BOO-18.0 mg/1, COD-72.0 mg/1 & Oil and grease - 3.6 mg/1 has been found, which is according to the Board standards. The steps for installing Online Water Quality Monitoring System with the purpose to constantly monitor the quality of purified outflow have been in progress by the industry. The unit representative informed during inspection that the work for Installing Online monitoring system shall be completed within the period of two weeks. Rendering Plant and Blood Mill have been installed for disposal of the waste of animals which gets generated from slathering process of the Industry. Bio filter has been installed for control of the fume gets generated through the cooking process of the waste of animals in the vessel cooker in Rendering Plant. Boiler of 08 Ton/per hour has been installed for evaporation In the Unit, in which, wood about 12/Ton per day is used as fuel. Multi Cyclone Dust Collector and at the height of 30 meter from the ground, a chimney is installed for control of the outflow generated from Boiler. In the Industry, there are 2 D.G. Sets of 500 K.V.A and one D.G. Set of each of 750 and 380 in which, there is provision of acoustic enclosure for control of sound and air pollution. The Board Headquarters, Lucknow has issued Water and Air Consent to the Industry upto 31.12.2017. Joint Inspection Report is respectfully submitted:

Joint Inspection Report is respectfully submitted:

Sd/- Illegible

(Dr. Sanjeev Kumar)

Veterinary Officer

Bamhaita,

Ghaziabad

Sd/- Illegible (Dr. Ved Prakash)

Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer

Sadar; Ghaziabad

Sd/- Illegible

(Dr. Anand Pal)

Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer

Livestock Development

Ghaziabad

Sd/- Illegible

(Rohit Singh)

Assistant Environment Engineer

U.P. Pollution Control Board

Ghaziabad

Sd/- Illegible

(Paras Nath)

Regional Officer

U.P. Pollution control Board,

Ghaziabad

Sd/- Illegible

(Pawan Kumar)

Circle Officer (Sadar)

Ghaziabad

Sd/- Illegible

(Shailendra Kumar Singh)

Dy. District Magistrate

Ghaziabad

Attested

Sd/- Illegible

15.06.2016

Sr. Accounts Officer

Collectorate, Ghaziabad"

17.

This fact about the Committee Report dated 1st June, 2016 was not brought to the notice of the Tribunal by the Applicant on

8 th June, 2016 when the Tribunal passed ex-parte order directing closure of the unit of the Respondent and as a consequence thereof the Respondent's Company had to face considerable losses. The Respondent further submits that the Applicant has already filed another application bearing number Original Application 38/2016 in respect of slaughter house in U.P and the matter is in seisin before the larger bench of the NGT with the same kind of matter and the present application not only lacks bona fide but was also an abuse of the process of court. The Respondent further submits that they have all the clearances from the all the statutory authorities. It is also the case of the Applicant that its case is similar to that of M/s Eagle Continental Foods Pvt., Ltd., which has also suffered restraint order dated 8th June, 2016 which was subsequently vacated by the Hon'ble Tribunal vide order dated 8th June, 2016 after the UPPCB in its order dated 13th June, 2016 in compliance with the direction of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India Supra found the unit of the said Respondent to be fully compliant. It is the case of the Respondent that the case of the Respondent is squarely covered by orders passed in case of Respondent No. 2. In the light of the forgoing, the Respondent prays that the application be dismissed being frivolous and malafide with ulterior motive of harassment to the Respondent.

18.

The Respondent No. 3 vide their M.A No. 1245/2016 filed on 14 th December, 2016 have also placed on record a copy of the NOC granted by CGWA in their favour in respect of their food processing unit located at Hasanpur Bus Stop, Hapur Road, Dasna, Village Dasna Dehat, Block Rajapur, District Ghaziabad, U.P wherein permission have been granted to the unit to abstract 600 cu.m/day (and not exceeding 180000 cu.m/year) of ground water, through existing 3 tubewells on the condition inter alia that the unit shall take measures to implement the ground water recharge measures at least to the tune of 432000 cu.m/year and adopt at least 2 to 3 villages for Water Security Plan in District Ghaziabad, U.P, besides certain other conditions.

19.

The Respondent No. 4 (M/s Jeva Agro Pvt., Ltd.,) in their reply submitted that they have constructed a slaughter house at Khasra No. 2603, Huri Gashi, Dasna, Ghaziabad and that till date they have not operated the plant as the consent from the UPPCB has not been obtained and as a consequence thereof there is no chance of any pollution being caused by them. The Respondent further submitted that the fact that the plant is not functioning has also been confirmed by UPPCB through their reply affidavit which is already on record. Respondent undertakes that they will not operate the unit without first obtaining permission from the CGWA and the UPPCB. It is further submitted that the unit will follow the guidelines of the CPCB and will operate the unit only after obtaining the permission from UPPCB and CGWA.

20.

Respondent NO. 9 (District Magistrate, Ghaziabad) in his reply affidavit filed on 9th August, 2016 has submitted that in compliance of the order dated 8th June, 2016 of the Tribunal restraining the Respondent Nos. 2 to 4 from operating the slaughter houses, the slaughter house of the Respondents were sealed on 13th June, 2016. Pursuant to the order dated 8th July, 2016 in M.A No. 644/2016 wherein the Respondent No. 2 was observed as a compliant unit having all permissions and according the Tribunal vacated the interim order passed on 8th June, 2016 qua Respondent No. 2

21.

It is further submitted that the villages wherein the Respondent No. 2 to 4 are situated neither come under the limits of the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation, nor is any sewer pipeline laid over there. It is also submitted that dumping of any kind of waste material of slaughter on the National Highway 24 as alleged by the Applicant is not conceivable because of the vigil being maintained by the National Highways and that the Respondent has never been apprised of any such complaint from the National Highway of India against dumping of any waste of slaughtering on the National Highway.

22.

The Respondent No.7 (CPCB) in their reply affidavit have referred to the directions issued by the CPCB from time to time for abatement of pollution from slaughter houses and adherence to the requirements of continuous monitoring of industrial effluent quality before its final disposal into river Ganga and its tributaries and installation of online effluent and emission monitoring system to be installed by the slaughter houses. The directions were issued to the State Pollution Control Boards and the slaughter houses vide letter dated 12th July, 2012, 5th February, 2014 and 30th July, 2015. The directions issued on 30th July, 2015 were not issued to the slaughter houses that are Respondents in this original application. Directions were also issued to all the Member Secretaries of all the State Pollution Control Boards on 3rd November, 2015 for modernization of slaughter houses and to 6 slaughter houses in Uttar Pradesh on 19th January, 2016 :

a) M/s Slaughter House, Bakarganj, Babupurwa, Kanpur, U.P

b) M/s Slaughter House, Fazalganj, Kanpur U.P

c) M/s Slaughter House, Colonelganj, U.P

d) M/s Slaughter House, Bakermandi, U.P

e) M/s Slaughter House, Samabad, Farrukhabad, U.P

f) M/s Pashvadhshala, Nagar Nigam, Hapur Road, Meerut, U.P

The CPCB further submitted that new standards for slaughter houses have been finalised and draft notification in this connection has been issued after a detail study carried out by Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI), Chennai and once the public comments are received the standards will be notified.

23.

During the course of hearing the Tribunal directed a joint inspection by a team consisting of CPCB and UPPCB asking them to prepare comprehensive Report in relation to quality of trade effluent, ambient air quality, extraction of ground water, sources of water disposal of treated effluent and whether it is discharging into drain sewer line, land or soil and quality of ground water. In compliance thereof, the joint inspection team submitted its report on 19h January, 2017. The extract of the Joint Inspection Report in respect of Respondent No. 2, 3 & 4 is reproduced below:-

"1. M/s Eagle Continental Foods PVT., LTD., Kallu Garhi Road,

Dasna, Ghaziabad (U.P)

The plant is an integrated Buffalo Abattoirs and meat processing unit, which produced average production about 50 MTD frozen meat. Based upon the input provided by the Management, the detailed information of the unit is given below:

Part A: General Information:

Name of the Unit and

M/s Eagle continental Foods PVT., LTD.

Address

KALLU GARHI ROAD, DASNA, GHAZIABAD,

(U.P)

Name of the Contact

HAZI SAJEED QURAISHI

Person

9999885566

Sector

Slaughter House

Category

RED

Products Installed- Production Capacity Present Production

FROZEN BONELESS BUFFALO MEAT 135 MTD 40 to 50 MTD as reported

Part B: Status of Water Pollution and its Control:

Water Source Water Consumption

Bore Well (one)-Photo attached 600 KLD (on full consumption), as reported and during inspection as per log book (December, 2016) 116 KLD Consumed. (Annexure-8)

Waste Water Generation

Data not provided, log book not maintained

Waste Water Treated

Data not provided, log book not maintained. However Online electronic flow meter installed at outlet of ETP and was found not working properly.

Details of ETP ETP Description

Flow Diagram attached-(Annexure-9) ETP Installed 1200KLD Capacity, as reported

Flow Meter to measure fresh water consumption

Yes (Photos-attached)

Flow measuring device at the inlet and outlet of ETP

Waste water discharged (after treatment) KLD Industrial

Data not provided, log book not maintained

Mode of disposal of final treated effluent: surface water/land/sewer/drain with distance from industry/ZLD

Some treated water used for irrigation purposes inside the premises and remaining discharge in Drain (Pipleda/Bhurghadi) which ultimately meets in Hindon River after travelling approx.: 10Kms

Sludge disposal mode

As manure and low land, as reported

11.

Record of power consumption in ETP

1453 Units/ Day

12.

Record of chemical consumption in ETP

1066 kg/Month, coagulant 40 kg/Month, Flocculants, as reported

Part C: Status of Air Pollution and its Control:

Sources of Air Pollution

4 Gen Set = 1000 KVA, 500 KVA (2),

750 KVA (1)-Photo Attached

Boiler = 2 No. 8 TPH each (one

standby)

Type of fuel used with

HSD for Gen Set & Wood/rice husk etc

consumption

for boiler

HSD-12,000 Lits./Month

Wood-8 Ton/Day, As reported

Stack details

along

with

Boiler- Capacity 8 tons-Stack Height:-

adequate

arrangement for

30 M (From G.L.) Dai:-1.2 M

sampling

Genset:-

1000 KVA, Stack Height:-6.5 M (From

roof)

500 KVA Stack Height:-4.5 M (From

roof.)

750 KVA Stack Height:- 3.0 M (From

R.L.)

APCD details, stackwise

 Cyclone Dust Collector with ID

fan-75HP,Axial Fan connected

with boiler

Part

D: Details of Wastages:

Quantity of waste / by

MBM-25 Tons/day

product

Tallow-10 Tons/day, As reported

Facility

storage

Rendering Plant

disposal / treatment

Part

E. Details of consent status and other statutory

compliances

Valid consent

to operate

Valid upto 31.12.2017 (Annexure-10)

under section 25 of water

(prevention and control of

pollution) Act 1974

Valid consent

to operate

Valid upto 31.12.2017 (Annexure-11)

under section 21 of air

(prevention and control of

pollution) Act, 1981

Valid authorization under

Applied (Pending with UPPCB), as

Hazardous

waste

reported

(Management,

Handling &

Transboundary Movement),

Rules, 2008

Status of tree plantation

Total green area = 64574 SQM, as

reported

details of On - line effluent

monitoring system

Whether

Online

Unit has installed OCEMS but not

continuous

Effluent

connected with CPCB server (Photo

Monitoring system provide

attached)

(Yes / No)

Monitoring :

During inspection samples from ETP, Drains, Ground water and ambient air have been collected and analysed. The result is depicted below in table 1 to 4.

Table: 1 Effluent quality during inspection

Sl.

Sampling

Parameters

points

TSS

COD

BOD

TDS

O&G

ETP Inlet

6.96

628

1681

451

3908

ETP Outlet

9.05

2444

As per MoEF &

6.5

250

notified

standards dated

8.5

28th

October,

2016

Note: All the concentration are expressed in mg/l except of pH

Remarks:

Industry meets all parameters except TSS, which is 9.05 against 8.5 and 55 mg/l respectively.

Table: 2 Drain water quality during inspection

Sl. NO

Sampling points

Parameters

TSS

COD

BOD

TDS

O&G

Drain upstream (before mixing with effluent)

7.85

641

836

477

4856

Drain downstrea m (after mixing with effluent)

8.48

396

502

279

3700

Note: All the concentration are expressed in mg/l except of pH

Remarks:

Table :3 Ground Water quality during inspection

Sam

Dated

Parameters

plin

Con

COD

BOD

TSS

TDS

Chlor

Tota

Sulp

*Nit

Time

ide

olo

hate

rate

Poin

Har

Ca++

collec

dnes

(Ha

Nitr

tion

s as

ate

CaC

it)

Gro

28.12

7.2

753

BDL

440

238

4.8

und

.2016

Wat

(HP-

Gro

28-

7.7

103

BDL

595

304

11.5

und

12-

Wat

2016

(HP-

Standards as per IS 10500- 2012 (Permissible Limit)

6.5 - 8.5

2000

1000

600

200

100

400

Note: All the concentration are expressed in mg/l except of pH and Conductivity (µmho/cm)

HP-1: Hand Pump within unit premises

HP-2: Hand pump near drain

Remarks: The analysis report indicates all parameters are within the drinking water limits.

Table:4 Ambient air quality during inspection

Sl.

Location

All values are in µg/m3

PM10

SO2

NO2

Weather

condition

front

office

248.

15.0

26.0

Clear

(Between

E.T.P &

Rendering

Plant

the

Industry)

within

Industry

premises.

Standards

100

Remarks: According to analysing report (UPPCB) reveals that all the parameters of ambient air except PM10 are within the limit

H. Observation

i. Industry discharges final treated effluent to the Pipleda/Bhurghadi Drain through pipe line which is 1 km away from the unit and crossing Ganga Naher. The drain originates from local village of Dasna and carries domestic as well as industrial waste. This drain finally meets into Hindan River at Ghaziabad, after travelling approx. 10 Kms

ii. Unit The team has observed that the unit has installed adequate effluent treatment plant to treat the effluent generated from the slaughtering process and follows the CPCB guidelines.

iii. No sign board was found at the entry gate.

iv. Odour problem was found near ETP.

v. During inspection the meat process was about 40-50 MTD against the installed capacity of 135 MTD.

J. Recommendations:

i. Unit shall provide sign board at the entry gate.

ii. The unit has to improve O & M of ETP in order to increase the efficacy of treatment w.r.t pH so as to meet all parameters.

iii. Industry needs to switch over from pet coke/biomass burning in the boiler to natural gas as soon as possible as per the policy.

iv. OCEMS installed to be connected immediately with CPCB server.

"2. M/s Jewa Agro Pvt. Ltd.,

At the time of inspection the plant was found sealed by concerned Bank and production unit sealed by UPPCB also (as reported) and was closed. Hence no monitoring was conducted "

24.

We have carefully perused the pleadings and documents placed on records and heard the parties. The factual matrix is the applicant relied on the letter dated 24th June 2014 of District Magistrate, Ghaziabad addressed to Principal Secretary, Animal Husbandry Department, State of U.P after a Joint Inspection carried out by the team of officers of Ghaziabad District on 3 slaughter houses, namely, M/s Eagle Continental Foods Pvt., Ltd, M/s Al-Nafees Frozen Foods Exports Pvt., Ltd. and M/s Jeva Agro Pvt., Ltd., located at Bhoorgarhi, Dasna, District Ghaziabad wherein the inspection team found certain deficiencies in the functioning of these slaughter houses The main observations of the Report of the Committee were that the :

"firm did not keep any record about the purchase of animals and the destination from where animals are purchased and brought, slaughtering of milking or pregnant animals, and that the firms do not run the treatment plants regularly because of which foul smell spreads due to which the environment and the underground water is polluted and accordingly recommended suspension of the NoC/licences of the slaughter houses."

25.

The learned Counsel for the Applicant has also brought up the question of extraction of ground water in substantial quantities without the permission of the CGWA, the regulatory body. It is argued that the Ghaziabad District, from the point of view of groundwater development, is categorised as 'over exploited' and, therefore, no permission of use of groundwater other than drinking purposes is permitted in terms of the guidelines issued by the CGWA. When the matter came up before the vacation bench, the Tribunal vide order dated 8th June, 2016 directed the Principal Secretary, Animal Husbandry Department, State of U.P, UPPCB and District Magistrate, Ghaziabad to restrain Respondent Nos 2, 3 and 4 from operating their slaughter houses. The learned Counsel for the Respondent Nos. 2, 3 and 4 submitted that this order by the Tribunal was an ex-parte injunction against them and is not based on material facts which were concealed by the learned Counsel for the Applicant at the time of hearing on 8th June, 2016. They have drawn attention to the fact that firstly the inspection Report of 24th June, 2014 is an old Report and subsequent to that another surprise inspection was carried out by a team consisting of the UPPCB, the SDM, Ghaziabad, Animal Husbandry Department, Fire Safety Department and the Police, which was a surprise inspection and no illegality or irregularity has been found to have been committed by the slaughter houses. They have all the clearances in place which they have obtained from the various regulatory authorities. They also have the consent under the Air and Water Acts which they have already been issued by the UPPCB on 19th February, 2016 which is valid till December, 2017. On the question of the abstraction of groundwater, the learned Counsel for the Respondent No. 2 and 3 have averred that at that time industries were established, there was no requirement for the industries to obtain permission, from the CGWA and, therefore, no such permission was obtained, although the industries are paying the water cess regularly. The Respondent No. 6, UPPCB have also affirmed that both M/s Eagle Continental Food Pvt., Ltd., and M/s Al-Nafees Frozen Foods Export Pvt., Ltd., have been granted consent which are valid till 31st December, 2017. In so far as M/s Jeva Agro Pvt., Ltd., is concerned, they have only installed a rendering plant and have no slaughter house. The UPPCB has not granted any consent to M/s Jeva Agro Pvt., Ltd., and during the inspection carried out on 19th May, 2016 and Joint Inspection Team appointed by the Tribunal on 28th December, 2016, the industry was closed as it was not having any consent to operate. Further, the board has given directions to the company not to operate till the consent has been granted the operation of the rendering plant was further sealed. The Unit was not found in operation even during at the time of inspection by the Committee appointed by District Magistrate, Ghaziabad. As regards the abstraction of groundwater, the CGWA's affidavit clearly points out to the fact that the Ghaziabad is an 'over exploited' District in terms of the groundwater assessment and that both M/s Eagle Continental Food Pvt., Ltd., and M/s Al-Nafees Frozen Foods Export Pvt., Ltd., were initially refused permission for abstraction of groundwater as there were certain deficiencies and absence of certain documents with the applications.

26.

Aggrieved by the order of the Tribunal dated 8th June, 2016, the Respondent No. 2 had moved to the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India through Civil Appeal No. 5344 of 2016 in the matter of M/s Eagle Continental Food Pvt., Ltd., v/s Shailesh Singh and Ors. and this Civil Appeal came to be disposed of accordingly by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India with a direction to UPPCB to hear the parties and pass appropriate order which shall be subject to the decision pending before the NGT. Accordingly, the UPPCB passed the order dated 30th June, 2016 and held that the unit is a complying unit in respect of Water and Air Pollution.

27.

It is the case of the Respondent No. 2 that even in the inspection Report dated 1st June, 2016 which was supressed from the Tribunal by the Applicant; the Team had found the unit as a complying unit. Relying on the order of the UPPCB passed in compliance of the order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India and the Report of the Joint Inspection Team dated 1st June, 2016, the Tribunal vacated injunction order dated 8th June, 2016 and permitted to the industries to operate vide order dated 8th July, 2016.

28.

We shall now examine the merit of the issues raised and reliefs sought in the Application. Firstly, the Applicant has alleged that the industries are extracting large quantities of ground water without the permission of the CGWA. Respondent Nos. 2, 3 and 4 are alleged to be consuming 700 kld, 1000 kld and 5 kld of ground water respectively as per the RTI reply dated 10th December, 2015 of UPPCB. Not only this, the industries are claimed to be consuming much more water than what is indicated above. The area where these slaughter houses are located has been identified as the 'over exploited area by the CGWA and consequently the use of ground water can be only for drinking purposes. The Ld Counsel for the Respondent nos 2 and 3 have rebutted the statement of the Applicant and submitted that at the time when the units were setup, there was no requirement of obtaining prior permission of CGWA for extraction of ground water. They further contend that they are regularly paying the water cess to the UPPCB and consequently there is no illegality committed by them. Further, the Respondent nos. 2 and 3 have already applied for obtaining NoC to the CGWA online vide application dated 1st February, 2016 and that their applications are pending with the CGWA. The perusal of the records as per the affidavit dated 13th July, 2016 filed by the CGWA would reveal that the Razapur block where the units are located falls in 'over exploited' area in Ghaziabad District and that over all Ghaziabad District has been categorised as 'over exploited' with a stage of development at 105 % and that request for extraction of ground water to the extent of 450 KLD by Respondent no. 2 and 700 KLD by Respondent no. 3 was rejected by them on the ground of application being either incomplete or non-filing of the required documents. Accordingly, Respondent nos. 2 and 3 submitted their online applications after removing the deficiencies on 13th June, 2016. Subsequently vide NoCs dated 21st October, 2016 and 10th November, 2016 the CGWA has accorded permission to the Respondent nos. 2 and 3 for drawal of ground water to the extent of 450 cum/day (not exceeding 135000 cum/year) through 3 existing tube wells in case of Respondent no. 2 and 600 cum/day (not exceeding 180000 cum/year) through existing 3 tube wells in respect of Respondent no. 3. The NoCs have been granted with certain conditions which inter alia include implementation of ground water recharge measures for augmenting the groundwater resources of the area within 6 months from the date of issue of NoC along with adoption of 2 villages each by the Respondents for water security plan in the District.

29.

The Joint Inspection Team of CPCB and UPPCB have in their report pointed out that the water consumption is 400 kld as reported during inspection and as per the log book maintained by the company in respect of Respondent no. 2 and 600 kld in respect of Respondent no. 3. These figures of water drawal are different from those furnished by UPPCB in their RTI reply to the Applicant dated 10th December, 2015. However, what is not in dispute is that at the time when this original application was filed, the industry did not have permission from the CGWA but had, however, already applied for the same, which was initially rejected apparently not on merit but on the ground of deficiencies in the application but subsequently the CGWA granted permission with certain conditions. The Ld Counsel for the CGWA fairly conceded that the conditions of seeking prior permission of CGWA for ground water regulations were not applied by the CGWA on the existing units but were extended to the existing units only pursuant to the order of the NGT dated 15th April, 2015 in OA no. 204 of 2014 titled as Krishan Kant Singh Vs. M/s Deoria Paper Ltd. and ors., that the Respondent nos. 2 and 3 have the permission of CGWA makes them eligible for drawal of ground water subject to the fulfilment of conditions laid down in the NoCs. With the permission from CGWA in place, the Respondent No. 2 and 3 cannot be stated to be to the extracting ground water illegality, however, the Respondents would have to comply with the conditions laid down in the NoCs granted by CGWA for the drawal of water.

30.

The second issue raised by the Applicant is that the Respondent Nos. 2, 3 and 4 were operating without the consent from the UPPCB. We have carefully gone through the documents placed on record and reply affidavit file by UPPCB as well as the Report of the Joint Inspection Team of CPCB & UPPCB. At the time of filing of the application, the Respondent no. 2 (M/s Eagle Continental Food Pvt. Ltd) had consent from the UPPCB issued vide letter dated 19th February, 2016 under the Air and Water Acts valid upto 31st December, 2017. The Respondent No. 3 (M/s Al-Nafees Frozen Foods Export Pvt. Ltd) had the consent under the Air and Water Acts granted on 18th February, 2016 and was valid till 31st December, 2017. Clearly, both the Respondents have valid consents to operate under the Air and Water Acts. The Respondent nos. 4 (M/s Jeva Agro Pvt. Ltd) was not operating, was closed and did not have any consent Under the Air and Water Acts from the UPPCB. At the time of Joint Inspection conducted by the team of officials from the District Ghaziabad, Animal Husbandry and the UPPCB on 18th May, 2016, the Respondent nos. 2 and 3 were found to have installed all pollution devices, both for Air and Water pollution, and were also operating under consent to operate which was valid up to 31st December, 2017. This fact has been reconfirmed by the Joint Inspection Team of UPPCB and CPCB. Consequently, at the time of filling the application on 6th June, 2016, the Respondent No. 2 and 3 were operating under valid consent to operate granted by the UPPCB. The Respondent no. 4 was not functional and did not have consent and was closed. In the circumstances, we find no merit in the averment of the applicant that the Respondent nos. 2, 3 and 4 were operating without the consent of UPPCB under Air and Water Acts.

31.

The Applicant has also alleged violation of the CPCB directions dated 30th July, 2015 regarding regulation of the slaughter houses. It is pertinent to peruse the reply affidavit dated 3 rd August 2016 filed by the CPCB. In the said affidavit, it has been disclosed by the CPCB that the direction dated 30th July, 2015 issued by CPCB under Section 5 of The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 was regarding online effluent and emission monitoring in respect of certain slaughter houses, however, the directions were not issued to the slaughter houses referred to in this Application The relevant portion of the affidavit is reproduced:

" Shri Arun Kumar Mehta, Chairman CPCB issued directions vide letter dated 30.07.2015 all Slaughter Houses, (Ganga main stem) under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 regarding installation of online effluent and emission monitoring system- Notice thereof. The names of the referred slaughter houses are not included in the Direction issued on 30.07.2015"

32.

Further, in the Joint Inspection Report of CPCB and UPPCB dated 19th January, 2017, it has been revealed that both Respondent nos. 2 and 3 have installed online effluent monitoring systems and have connected their online effluent and emission monitoring systems with the CPCB servers. Therefore, firstly, the CPCB directions issued under section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 were not issued to Respondent nos. 2 and 3 and secondly, the units on inspection by CPCB and UPPCB were found to be have already installed online effluent and emission monitoring systems and connected their system to the CPCB servers. There is, therefore, no ground to hold that the units were not complying with the directions dated 30th July, 2015 issued to the slaughter houses by the CPCB and cannot be said to be in violation of the direction issued by the CPCB.

33.

The Applicant has also raised the issue of slaughtering of milking and pregnant animals and non-maintenance of proper records of how the milking and pregnant animals were being treated by the Respondents nos. 2 and 3 and that there was foul smell emanating from the slaughter houses into the environment, besides the trade effluent causing pollution of the ground water. The applicant has also raised the issue of violation of the Rules of 2001. While denying the contentions that the Respondent nos. 2 and 3 were slaughtering the milking and pregnant animals, the Ld Counsel averred that they have been maintaining highest standards of hygiene and quality, particularly because they are export based unit registered with Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) of the Ministry of Commerce and, therefore, do not indulge in slaughtering the milking and pregnant animals and in fact every animal that is slaughtered is subjected to medical examination by veterinary doctors before and after slaughter in a very rigorous manner through trained veterinary doctor. This contention of the Learned Counsel for the Respondent no. 2 and 3 has also been supported by the Respondent no. 5 (Principal Secretary, Animal Husbandry Department, State of U.P) who have also raised objection to invoking jurisdiction of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), particularly, in view of the fact that the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 is not among the seven (7) Acts listed in Schedule 1 of the NGT Act, 2010. The learned Counsel for the Respondent no. 5 has, therefore, pointed out that the Applicant could not have invoked the jurisdiction of the Hon'ble Tribunal and consequently the original application is not maintainable qua the above prayer per se. Besides, the slaughter animals are subjected to anti mortem and post mortem examination through registered veterinarians of the respective units as prescribed under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Slaughter houses) Rules 2001 and online health certificates / shipment certificate are issued on the basis of tests and inspections carried out by designated veterinary officials of the Animal and Husbandry Department who are registered under Indian Veterinary Council Act of 1984 and employed by the these units under the overall supervision of the Directorate. As a consequence, the contention raised by the Applicant is not only beyond the jurisdiction of the NGT but even on facts of the case, the contention of the Applicants have been denied. In so far as the standard operating procedure for slaughtering of animals, the Joint Inspection Team has recorded after perusing the records of the Respondent no. 2 and 3 during the joint inspection, that anti-mortem examination of animals was done by veterinarians and that animals not found fit for slaughtering were rejected. The Joint Inspection Report has further observed that at the time of the inspection actual slaughtering was being carried out and all the records regarding examination of animals anti mortem and post mortem were being properly maintained. Besides, the Respondents have set up their own microorganism laboratory for testing for the presence of bacteria, yeast and mould in the meat. The learned Counsel for the Respondent nos. 2 and 3 vehemently submitted that the Applicant's contention are based on only the letter of 24th June, 2014 written by District Magistrate, Ghaziabad to the Principal Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, Government of U.P., however, subsequent to that exhaustive inspection on 19th May, 2016 has been carried out and report dated 1st June, 2016 prepared. It is averment of the Ld counsel that letter of 24th June, 2014 is vague and without any specifics and is not backed up by any spot inspection Report. On the other hand, the Report of 1st June, 2016 is based on detailed Joint Inspection wherein all the aspects relating to hygiene, drawal of water and adherence to air/water pollution measures have been gone into in an extensive detail. The Ld Counsel for the Respondent nos. 2 and 3 in their averments have also raised the question of limitation as the Applicant is relying on a letter of District Magistrate, Ghaziabad of 24th June, 2014 even though the Application has been filed only on 7th June, 2016 after a lapse of almost 2 years. This is far in excess of the limitation period prescribed under Section14 (3) of the National Green Tribunal Act 2010. He further submitted that the Respondents have been subjected to detailed inspection by Joint Inspection team of Animal Husbandry Department, Revenue, Police and Pollution Control Board and have been found to be fully compliant as the industries have not the consent from the Pollution Control Board and their permission form the CGWA and, therefore, the Applicant issue raised in the letter of District Magistrate, Ghaziabad of 24th June 2014 which are again very general and function without any specific instances of violation, if any, by the Respondent's industries. Since there is no specific averment either by the Applicant or by the Respondent no. 9 (District Magistrate, Ghaziabad) on the alleged violation committed by the Respondents they denied the allegations. In fact the Ld. Counsel vehemently submits that the Joint Inspection Report of the District and Pollution Control Board officials, the Joint Inspection conducted by the UPPCB and CPCB in terms of NGT orders and the fact that the allegation of the Applicant has only made bald and vague allegations without any specifics about the violation of the statutory Acts and Rules and consequently, the application deserves to be dismissed with costs. He has vehemently denied any adverse impact on the environment and public health caused by the activities of the Respondents. Considering the merit of the averments of the rival parties and after carefully weighing the merit of the arguments adduced during the hearings the conclusion has to be in favour of the Respondents 2 and 3 and against the Applicant. Even on the question of limitation, which provides for filing of Application within six months and 60 days of the "cause of action first arose" as prescribed in Section 14(3) of the National Green Tribunal Act 2010, the decision has to be in favour of the Respondents 2 to 4 and against the Applicant.

34.

One of the contention raised by the Applicant is that the Respondent nos. 2 to 4 have been discharging their municipal solid waste not only in the Municipal drains but also in surrounding drains and on roads as well as. The CPCB in their reply affidavit have pointed out that the direction dated 30th July, 2015 issued by them under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 were not issued to the slaughter houses referred to in this application i.e., Respondent nos. 2, 3 and 4. In fact, the directions dated 30th July, 2015 pertained primarily to installation of online effluent monitoring systems for the purpose of establishing a self-regulatory mechanism of online emission and effluent monitoring systems. However, the issues of non-management of solid waste and its release into the municipal drains or open dumping is denied not only by the Learned Counsel for Respondent nos 2, 3 and 4 but the affidavit on record submitted by the District Magistrate Ghaziabad has also denied the contentions of the Applicant. In fact, the affidavit of the District Magistrate points out that the area where these slaughter houses are located is close to the National Highways and any solid waste or animal parts if scattered or dumped on the road sides close to the slaughter house, the National Highways Authority would have brought this fact to the notice to the District Administration. No such thing was brought to the notice of the District Administration, neither by National Highways Authority of India nor by the public. The Respondents units have also pointed out that they are responsible units having modern mechanised slaughter houses with well-equipped facilities along with rendering plants of their own and, therefore, there is no reason why they would have discarded the animals parts in the open. Learned Counsel for the Respondents no. 2 and 3 have vehemently denied this contention of the Applicant and drawn reference to the Joint Inspection Team of CPCB and UPPCB who have pointed out that the ETPs maintained by the units are adhering to the standards laid down by MoEF & CC in their notification dated 28th October, 2016 and all the parameters are within prescribed norms. Besides this, the water quality in the drain does not suggest that the industries are releasing their the quality of water on downstream after mixing with the effluent has improved in comparison to quality of waste water into drain upstream of the unit. The quality of the ground water is also within the permissible limits. Likewise the ambient air quality parameters except PM 10 were within the prescribed limits. The Ld Counsel submitted that high value of PM10 in due to generally high value of PM10 in the ambient air of the area and Ghaziabad district in general and, therefore, may not be attributable to these units.

35.

In the circumstances, we find no merit in the contention of the Applicant that the industry is responsible for causing air and water pollution in the area or for contamination of the groundwater.

36.

In the result, we hold that the Respondent No. 2, M/s Eagle Continental Foods Pvt. Ltd and Respondent No. 3, M/s Al-Nafees Frozen Food Exports Pvt. Ltd have all the valid clearances from the various regulatory authorities including the consent under Air and Water Acts from the UPPCB valid upto 31st December, 2017 and also have the NoC granted by the CGWA for drawal of ground water. The joint Inspection team of the CPCB and UPPCB in their Report have also found all their effluent parameters within prescribed standards and have found that the Units have installed all the anti-pollution devices.

37.

We, therefore, find no merit in the prayers sought against them so far as they relate to these Respondents referred to above and accordingly permit these industries to function in terms of the Consent granted by the UPPCB. So far as the Respondent No. 4, (M/s Jeva Agro Pvt., Ltd) is concerned, since it is not operational and is closed, the prayer is infructuous. This Unit will not be allowed to operate until and unless it has all the clearances in place and is granted consent by UPPCB and permission by the CGWA.

38.

While parting, however, we deem it appropriate to pass the following directions:

The CPCB, UPPCB and CGWA shall conduct a Joint Inspection, which will be a surprise inspection, of the industries within 3 months from today and submit the Joint Inspection Report to the Tribunal which shall be listed as a separate O.A by the registry.

The Joint Inspection Team shall inspect the functioning of all the anti-pollution devices and compliance to the recommendations of the Joint Inspection Report of CPCB and UPPCB dated 18.01.2016. It shall also comment on the measures taken by the units for water harvesting / recycling in terms of the conditions laid down by the CGWA while granting NoC to the units for extraction of groundwater.

With the above direction the Original Application No. 318/2016 is disposed of with no order as to costs. All the M.A Nos. 644/2016, 959/2016, 1159/2016 and 1245/2016 also stand disposed of as the Main Original Application No. 318/2016 itself has been disposed of.

Shailesh Singh vs State Of Uttar Pradesh And Ors

More clarity. Every judgment.

Judgment