CHENNAI: The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered the demolition of a seafood export company’s building in Royapuram for violating Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification, 2011.St Peter and Paul Sea Food Export Pvt Ltd was found guilty of carrying out prohibited activity (seafood processing) inside the CRZ area without necessary consent. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) had already issued a closure order and the unit was closed and the electricity supply was disconnected.
Following this, the NGT bench comprising of judicial member K Ramakrishnan and expert member K Satyagopal disposed of a petition filed by KR Selvaraj Kumar from Meenava Thanthai Nala Sangam and ordered the Tamil Nadu Coastal Zone Management Authority (CZMA) to demolish the building that was constructed in violation of the CRZ rules.
The NGT bench has also confirmed Rs 30 lakh environmental compensation assessed by the TNPCB. It directed the TNPCB to recover the compensation from the company and also directed the board to monitor whether the firm was doing any activity without obtaining necessary consent or other permissions on the premises.The tribunal even directed the TNPCB to inspect the Royapuram coast to identify whether any other units were functioning in the CRZ without necessary environmental clearance/permission.
The main charges against St Peter and Paul Sea Food Export Pvt Ltd were that they constructed the building in the CRZ-II area where seafood processing is prohibited. It was found guilty of extracting groundwater without permission and also discharging untreated effluent into the underground drain.
The company’s counsel argued that it was not involved in seafood processing, but was only grading and packing, which was not prohibited. However, the tribunal has dismissed the argument relying on a joint committee report. The company was at least 10 years old and in 2017 itself a show cause notice was issued for discharging untreated effluent into CMWSSB drain.