CUTTACK: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued notices to the Odisha government and other authorities on a petition alleging violations of environmental and forest laws by M/s Ramco Cements Limited at its cement grinding unit located at Haridaspur in Jajpur district.
The petition was filed by Youth United for Sustainable Environment Trust, a Talcher-based NGO, invoking the NGT Act, 2010. It is alleged that RCL violated key EC conditions relating to 90 per cent railway transportation, groundwater abstraction limits, development of 33 per cent green belt and submission of six-monthly compliance reports.
The Trust further claimed that RCL commenced production of dry mortar without prior EC, despite securing a consent to operate from the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) in June. Advocates Sankar Prasad Pani and Ashutosh Padhy represented the petitioner.
The Trust, in the interim urged the Tribunal to constitute an independent fact-finding committee to ascertain the factual position of involvement of forest land in the project and further assess the environmental compensation for ecological loss and direct the collector to immediately stop the transportation of final products through roadways.
Acting on the plea, the NGT’s East Zone bench in Kolkata comprising judicial member Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert member Ishwar Singh noted that, prima facie, the allegations in the petition raise substantial questions relating to the environment. Accordingly, the bench issued notices to the chief secretary, Jajpur collector, member secretaries of OSPCB and State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, regional director of Central Ground Water Board, DFO Cuttack and RCL.
The respondents have been directed to file their replies within one week. While listing the case for further consideration on January 7, the bench clarified that arguments on the plea for interim relief sought by the petitioner would also be heard on the same date.
The cement company, according to the petition, violated key conditions of the EC, including requirements related to transporting 90 per cent of raw material and products by rail, limits on groundwater extraction, development of a 33 per cent green belt and submission of mandatory six-monthly compliance reports.