The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has laid down a condition that the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) should adopt a suitable system to reduce the temperature of the trade effluent at the final discharge point so that the resultant rise in the temperature of the sea does not exceed seven degrees Celsius above the ambient temperature.
The board stipulated the condition in its fresh consent order to operate the plant, a copy of which was submitted to the Madras High Court.
Following this, a Division Bench, consisting of Justices P. Jyothimani and P. Devadass, treated as closed a writ petition by G. Sundarrajan of Vadapalani here who challenged an earlier consent order of July 23 this year under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act granted by the board. In the order, the tolerance limit for the temperature of the trade effluent at the point of discharge had been given as 45 degree Celsius.
The petitioner had said the Environmental Impact Assessment had said that the temperature of the effluent could never exceed 37 degrees Celsius. If the first and second units were allowed to be commissioned based on the July 23 consent order, there would be a “grave danger to the marine environment.”
In its order, the Bench said since the board had issued a fresh consent order giving various particulars, the writ petition would stand closed. The consent order would form part of the court records, the Bench said.
