The Madras High Court on Thursday refused to modify its January 10 order restraining the operation of 177 illegal brick kilns at Thadagam valley in Coimbatore district pursuant to an order passed in their favour by the Commissioner of Geology and Mining on December 29, 2022.
A Division Bench of Justices N. Sathish Kumar and D. Bharatha Chakravarthy stoutly rejected a plea made on behalf of 19 brick kiln owners to at least permit transportation of the bricks that had already been manufactured and remain stored in their kilns so that they do not go waste.
The judges said, the court could not show any indulgence when the brick kilns had been established without any requisite licences such as permission from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, a permit from the Collector for quarrying brick earth from patta land and a registration certificate.
Since the National Green Tribunal was seized of the issue and it had worked out an interim environmental compensation of ₹373.74 crore to be paid by the brick kiln owners, the judges said, the January 10 order passed by them would continue to be in operation until the NGT takes a final decision.
They also requested the tribunal to decide the issue at the earliest. Further, with respect to other illegal brick kilns in the district, the judges called for an explanation from Tamil Nadu generation and distribution corporation by February 4 on a request made by TNPCB to disconnect power supply.
