GPCB, CPCB told to recover Rs 117 crore from Vapi industries

Surat: The principal bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT) based in New Delhi on Wednesday authorized a joint team of Gujarat State Pollution Board (GPCB) and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to recover compensation amount of Rs117 crore from polluting industries in Vapi GIDC for Damanganga River’ rejuvenation.

The joint team will be visiting Vapi GIDC soon to find out about the industries that continue to pollute Damanganga River and Bill Creek.

The four-member bench asked Vapi Green Enviro Limited, which had installed and manages a common effluent treatment plant to control pollution levels, and also the polluting units to pay up Rs117 crore as interim recovery amount. The joint team will also monitor CETP’s inlet and outlet quantities and reassess the pollution scenario within three-months.

The bench comprising Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel (chairperson), Justice SP Wangdi (judicial member), Justice K Ramakrishnan (judicial member) and Dr Nagin Nanda (expert member) posted the hearing in Aryavrat Foundation versus Vapi Green Enviro Limited and others case to February 2020.

Aryavrat Foundation president Ashutosh Mishra said, “The interim compensation collected from the polluting industries by the joint team of GPCB and CPCB will stand until the tribunal’s further order.”

Jitender Singh, advocate of Aryavrat Foundation, told TOI, “The supervising agencies have been told by the tribunal to reduce pollutant load on CETP’s inlet. It is not difficult to identify the polluting units and regulate them.”

The NGT had set up a committee of experts, which also included GPCB and CPCB officials, after a petition was filed regarding pollution being caused to Damanganga River and Bill Creek in 2018. The committee submitted a 107-page report, which held CETP at Vapi and 236 units responsible for causing pollution in Damanganga and the creek. Subsequently, an amount of Rs92.36 crore was decided by NGT for CETP’s upgradation and recovery of Rs25.36, crore as interim compensation from the polluting units.