The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the State government, the State Pollution Control Board, the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, and the National Coastal Zone Management Authority to file affidavits by August 5 as to whether the requisite procedures have been followed in respect of the pipeline laid for discharging effluents into the sea from the Godavari Mega Aqua Food Park (GMAFP) in West Godavari district.
A three-judge bench of the NGT expressed the view during the hearing on a petition filed by A.V.V.S. Subrahmanyam, in which the primary contention raised by advocate Sravan Kumar was whether the establishment and operation of the GMAFP was permissible without prior environmental clearances.
MoEF response
In response to a direction by the NGT, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change stated in its affidavit that the standalone food parks were not covered under the schedule of the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006, and the requirement of environmental clearance was also exempted for the Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETP) set up for or within the projects, or activities that did not require environmental clearance in terms of the MoEF notification dated December 19, 2018.
If any of the existing or proposed member-units of the said CETP produces or proposes to produce any product that needs environmental clearance, then the CETP would require the environmental clearance.
CRZ norms
Regarding the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance, it was stated that the aqua food parks were non-permissible activities in the CRZ areas and pipelines that discharge treated effluents into the sea require CRZ clearance as per the CRZ notification of 2011. A.D.N. Rao, counsel for the respondent, submitted that the project did not fall within the CRZ and the industry was a zero liquid discharge facility.
This was not disputed by the counsel for the applicant (Mr. Subrahmanyam), but stated that pipelines were laid for discharging effluents from the industry into the sea.
The NGT observed that CRZ clearance did not appear to be necessary. However, regarding the pipeline, though the proposal for it was made by the industry, it was the State government that had decided to lay the pipeline from the park to the coast at Chinnagollapalem, the cost of which was to be borne equally by the A.P. Pollution Control Board and the GMAFP.
NGT, therefore, directed the aforementioned to file affidavits by the next date of hearing (August 5).
