Mahul pollution: Two firms to move SC against NGT’s order

Private firms in the Mahul-Chembur area, directed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to pay compensation for environmental damage caused by air pollution over five years, have decided to move the Supreme Court (SC) against the order.

HT Image

Industrial firm Aegis Logistics Ltd (ALL) and SeaLord Containers Limited (SLCL, a subsidiary of ALL), were directed to pay Rs. 142.2 crore of the Rs. 286.2 crore compensation that was ordered by NGT in its order from August 13 (based on a June 30 hearing). The compensation amount was based on a Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) in-house technical committee report using VOC emissions data submitted by the industries themselves.

ALL and SLCL have denied the charges against them.

“Aegis will appeal to SC against this order and also that it had engaged Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B), IIT Chennai and the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) which supported Aegis’s contentions that emission concentrations due to said industries were close to zero; when comparing these concentrations with Indian and United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) standards, there was no breach of any standards,” read the statement issued by the firm to the Bombay and National Stock Exchanges earlier this week. An Aegis official shared the statement with HT.

The other two companies, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), will also take steps against the NGT order, which directed HPCL to pay Rs. 76.5 crore and BPCL to pay Rs. 67.5 crore as compensation. “We are in receipt of the NGT order. Appropriate action will be initiated at our end after examining it,” read HPCL’s statement while a BPCL spokesperson said, “We have shared the order with our legal team. Necessary follow-up action will be taken soon.”

NGT’s hearing was based on an execution application filed under a 2014 application by Mahul residents Charudatt Koli, Dayaram Mahulkar, Mohan Mhatre and Dattaram Koli, seeking closure of SLCL, which is located less than 10 metres from Mahul and Ambapada villages. NGT held that pollution emissions came from logistic services, storing oil, gas and chemical items, and oil companies releasing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during loading, storage and unloading or handling of hazardous chemicals at various stages.

“Conditions prevailing in the area are sometimes likened to that of ‘Gas Chamber’,” NGT had said.

VOCs are harmful toxic pollutants causing exposure related health effects in humans.

Meanwhile, apprehending ALL’s move, applicants said they were working out a strategy to respond before the Apex Court. “Environmental restoration costs must be imposed for damages due to air pollution since the inception of these industries. Aegis started functioning in 1984 and SLCL in 2010,” said Koli.

Mhatre said the damage cost payable by industries was actually much higher if a report by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) was considered. “Had CPCB considered VOC emissions data by NEERI, Rs. 1,167 crore would be payable by SLCL and Rs. 13,088.3 crore by ALL (damages from 2015 to 2020),” he said.

NGT in its latest order said funds would be utilised for restoration through an air pollution action plan while constituting a 10-member joint committee of state, Central bodies and research institutes to prepare this plan. On Thursday, environment minister Aaditya Thackeray had tweeted that the NGT order was discussed by state bodies and the role of departments was assessed for further follow-up. “We request the state to implement immediate measures to deal with toxic emissions from these industries and provide a concrete solution as relief for Ambapada and Mahul Koliwada villagers,” said Mahulkar.

AEGIS HAD MOVED SC DAYS BEFORE NGT ORDER WAS PUBLISHED

Apart from the fresh intention to move SC, ALL had already moved SC on August 10 challenging NGT’s (June 30) order before it was published on August 13. On August 14, the SC had held that NGT will hear Aegis before pronouncing its written order, preferably within a period of two weeks. However, by the time the order was circulated, NGT had already published its August 13 order. Thus, the NGT issued a notice on August 18, in view of the SC order, that the execution application will be taken up for hearing on Monday (August 24). Applicants said these were delay tactics. “These strategies are used to postpone proceedings to benefit industries every time. ALL approaching the SC at the very last hour when the NGT order is to be published as part of the same modus operandi adopted to create confusion,” said Koli adding, “If a hearing was needed ALL should have challenged it immediately after June 30.”