Order to shut down the premises operating commercial  activities without permission and  in violation of environment norms passed – NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL

Item No. 03 BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL SPECIAL BENCH By Video Conferencing) Original Application No. 207 2021 With reports dated 15.12.2021 & 20.01.2022) Rajeev Aggarwal Applicant North Delhi Municipal Corporation & Ors. Date of hearing: 25.01.2022 Respondent(s) CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SUDHIR AGARWAL JUDICIAL MEMBER HON’BLE DR. NAGIN NANDA EXPERT MEMBER HON’BLE DR. AFROZ AHMAD EXPERT MEMBER Mr. Balendu Shekhar Advocate for DPCC The complaint of applicant is that factories and commercial activities in residential areas are going on in violation of environmental norms. Reference of such activitieshas been given in the application by applicant. Taking cognizance of the said complaint Tribunal passed order on 23.08.2021 and operative part of the order reads as under: “8. Accordingly we direct the Monitoring Committee appointed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court comprising:Chief Secretary of Delhi iii) Commissioner Municipal Commissioner of Police Delhi Corporation of Delhi andVice Chairman of the Delhi Development Authority through responsible officers subordinate to them preferably a joint Committee comprising of Commissioner North Delhi Municipal Corporation Special Commissioner of Police North Member Secretary DPCC and District Magistrate North to undertake study of the situation and remedial measures required. DPCC will be the nodal agency for coordination and compliance. The Committee may hold its first meeting within 15 days from today and take cognizance of the problem. The Committee will be at liberty to co opt any other officers of any other area in Delhi or any other Expert Institution. The Committee may interact with the stakeholders including the Resident Representatives. The Committee may make recommendations for safety sanitation hygiene and the pollution free environment. The Committee may make a brief survey of the carrying capacity of the recipient environment to sustain nature and extent of activities. The Committee may not limit its deliberation only to the area specified by the applicant but also cover other such places in the city. It may verify status of industrial operations in question as well as other industries in existence and current status of compliance of Hon ble Supreme Court order. Besides verifying operation of industries in non conforming areas sources of water and power supply drainage status and air quality status be ascertained. A factual and action taken report in the matter be furnished within two months by e mail at judicialngt@gov.in preferably in the form of searchable PDF OCR Support PDF and not in the form of Image PDF.” Pursuant thereto reports have been filed by DPCC and Deputy Commissioner of Police North District Delhi. Report of DPCC states that the ten premises mentioned by applicant in the original application were inspected by joint Committee and they found that in three places impermissible activities were going on and those premises have been sealed. In respect of remaining premises it is said that either they are vacant or small shops with permissible activities are running. Relevant paragraphs 4 and 5 of DPCC report read as under: “4. That to comply with the above orders the Principal Secretary Env. & Forests) cum Chairman DPCC has taken a meeting on 27.09.2021 with all stake holders. In the meeting various executing agencies like DM Dy. Commissioner North DMC and Joint CommissionerDelhi Police were present. Following decisions were taken. a. A team consisting of the officials of DPCC North DMC District Magistrateand Delhi Police shall carry out joint inspection of the said area on 01.10.2021. DPCC lab shall also conduct Noise monitoring during the inspection if required. b. The team besides verifying operation of industries in non conforming areas shall also ascertain the sources of water and power supply drainage status and status of air quality. The team shall undertake the study of situation and remedial measures required and take cognizance of the d. The team will interact with the stake holders including the Resident Welfare Associations NGOs in the area and Representatives. The team shall recommend regarding the safety sanitation hygiene and the pollution free environment and make a brief survey of the carrying capacity of the recipient environment to sustain nature and extent of activities. The North Delhi Municipal Corporation shall provide the details of the action taken so far against the illegal units found operating in the entire jurisdiction and expressly Nai Sadak areas. Copy of the minutes of the meeting dated 27.09.2021 is enclosed herewith as ANNEXURE 1. 5. That the Joint Committee inspected the sites as mentioned in the order passed by this Hon‘ble Tribunal on 01.10.2021 and 08.10.2021. Copy of the report of committee is enclosed herewith as ANNEXURE 2. The status of the inspection in brief is as under: Premises mentioned in the order dated 23.08.2021: Stitching activity observed: Premises sealed: Show cause notice was issued for imposition of EDC Premises being used for commercial activity: Premises found Vacant: The joint committee recommended the following: That the buildings used for manufacturing godown should be allowed only in the specified area with necessary approvals from the concerned departments such as MCD Fire Department Labour Department industry department Delhi Govt.) DPCC etc. II. No industrial setup should be allowed in residential area or non confirming area as per the Master Plan of Delhi (DMP). III. No electricity connection should be given by the NDPL BSES to such industrial activity or godowns or other activities which are violating DMP. IV. The shops existing in the said area should obtain relevant permission from the concerned department and MCD may proceed accordingly.” Annexure 2 of Committee’s report in para 3 to 9 states as under: Similar report has been filed by Deputy Commissioner of Police and he has given a chart of 10 premises in which premises at item 1 2 and 3 have been sealed as unauthorized and impermissible activities were going on thereat. Out of remaining 7 premises 5 were vacant and two were found being used as shops with permissible activities. Besides it is also stated that one more premises of M s Swami Saree was found to carry on with impermissible activities and the same has also been sealed. It has been stated in both the reports that show cause notices proposing Environmental Compensation of Rs. 2 lakhs on each violator have been issued by DPCC and further action is still in process. No objection has been filed by the applicant to the said reports pointing out any discrepancy in the said reports. Therefore we accept the said reports. No further order need be passed in this matter except that the concerned authorities shall ensure recovery of environmental compensation from the concerned violators expeditiously and in any case not later than three months i.e. by 30.04.2022 and recommendations of joint Committee shall be given effect by concerned authorities. This direction will not preclude concerned Statutory Regulator from taking such other and further action as permissible in law after giving due opportunity to all concerned parties. The application is disposed of accordingly. Sudhir Agarwal JM Dr. Nagin Nanda EM Dr. Afroz Ahmad EM January 25 2022 Original Application No. 207 2021 

Summary: Order to shut down the premises operating commercial  activities without permission and  in violation of environment norms passed – NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL A complaint was filed against the factories and other premises where commercial activities are operated without permission and are in violation of various environmental norms. The tribunal takes cognizance in the matter and passes an order to regulate and seal down these premises the order was passed by a three-member bench of  HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SUDHIR AGARWAL, HON’BLE DR. NAGIN NANDA, and HON’BLE DR. AFROZ AHMAD in the case of Rajeev Aggarwal versus North Delhi Municipal Corporation &amp; Ors(Original Application No. 207/2021) An order was passed concerning the complaint and the authorities were appointed and directed to undertake the study of the situation and remedial measures required. DPCC will be the nodal agency for coordination and compliance and the committee may make recommendations for safety, sanitation, hygiene, and a pollution-free environment. The Committee may make a brief survey of the carrying capacity of the recipient environment to sustain the nature and extent of activities. The Committee may not limit its deliberation only to the area specified by the applicant but also cover other such places in the city. Following the order, reports were filed by the DPCC   The report findings show that the ten premises mentioned by the applicant in the original application were inspected by joint Committee and they found that in three places, impermissible activities were going on and those premises have been sealed and the remaining premises are either small shops or vacant places and doing permissible activities. Similar reports are being submitted by the  Deputy Commissioner of Police and it was found that the premises where unauthorized and impermissible activities were going on were sealed Out of the remaining 7 premises, 5 were vacant and two were found being used as shops with permissible activities. Certain recommendations were made by the joint committee which was that the buildings can be allowed to operate only in specific areas and no industrial setup should be allowed in a residential area and the existing shops can operate by obtaining special permissions. These recommendations were given by the committee. The reports also stated that the show-cause notice of Rs. 2 lakhs on each violator should be imposed as environmental compensation and no objections have been filed in this matter. The reports were accepted by the tribunal and it was considered that the concerned authorities shall ensure recovery of environmental compensation from the concerned violators in not later than three months The direction will not preclude the concerned Statutory Regulator from taking such other and further action as permissible in law after giving due opportunity to all concerned parties and the application is disposed of accordingly.