BENGALURU: Observing that the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) acted in a manner that the very objective of the setting up of the Board is defeated, the Karnataka High Court held that the consent granted by the KSPCB on July 1, 2020, for the second stage development of the Karwar port in Uttara Kannada district, which is part of the Sagar Mala project, is illegal and stands vitiated. Therefore, the work cannot commence unless and until the consent for establishment is granted by the KSPCB in terms of this judgment, the court added.
“The very purpose of establishment of the KSPCB was to achieve the object of prevention and control of water and air pollution. The KSPCB is required to act as a watchdog against pollution of air and water. But, in the present case, we are constrained to observe that KSPCB acted in a manner that the very objective of the setting up of the board is frustrated. Apart from the shocking manner in which KSPCB dealt with the application made by the Port Officer for grant of consent, the entire process is vitiated due to non-application of mind, non-consideration of relevant factors and the illegality in the decision-making process”, the court said scathingly in the order pronounced on Thursday.
The court said that the KSPCB should decide the applications made for grant of consent in terms of the undertaking given before the court on June 15, 2021, preferably within a period of one month, subject to the observations made by the court.
“We direct the State Government and Director of Ports and Inland Water, Karwar, to ensure that all the terms and conditions of environment clearance, dated January 23, 2019, issued by the State-level Environment Impact Assessment Authority are scrupulously followed and implemented”, said a division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Suraj Govindaraj. The court also directed the state to comply with certain other conditions before the commencement
of work.