PARADIP: The Eastern Zone bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in Kolkata has taken cognisance of the alleged illegal groundwater extraction by JSW Utkal Steel Limited in Jagatsinghpur district.
Reviewing the petition filed by activist Dillip Samantaray last week, the NGT observed that the matter raises substantial environmental questions under the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010. The bench issued notices to the respondents, directing them to file their responses within one month.
In his petition, Samantaray had raised serious concerns over alleged violations of environmental norms during the establishment of the company’s greenfield integrated steel plant near Paradip.
According to the complainant, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) had granted environmental clearance to the project with a specific condition prohibiting groundwater extraction. The company was required to source water from Mahanadi river near the Jobra barrage. However, it is alleged that the company violated this condition by digging of borewells across its project area, which spans over 4,000 acres.
The petitioner also cited information obtained through RTI from the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), which indicates that only two no objection certificates (NOCs) were issued for a limited number of tube-wells.
Further allegations included non-compliance with mandatory safeguards such as the installation of tamper-proof digital water flow meters and construction of observation wells (piezometers) for groundwater monitoring. The petitioner also questioned the legality of the NOCs, alleging they were granted without due consideration of the EC conditions.
The NGT bench, comprising Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi (judicial member) and Ishwar Singh (expert member), has scheduled the matter for further hearing on May 26.