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Id:

20417090

Approve:

false

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Clarification:

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Date Created:

2022-11-16 13:44:14.057

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Subject:               Proceeding of the personal hearing given on 11/11/2022  by the Chairman of the Board to M/s Municipal Heights, Group Housing, Site no. 4, Pearl City, Sector-104, SAS Nagar for non-compliance of hearing decisions dated 29/6/2022 given by the Chairman of the Board alongwith refusal of consent to operate under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974   The following were present: <h3 style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in; line-height: 150%;">From the Board:</h3> 1.            Sh. Lavneet Kumar, Senior Environmental Engineer (ZP-I) 2.            Sh. Kuldeep Singh, Environmental Engineer (ZP-I) From the project proponent/ Society: 1.            Sh. Rohit Verma, President 2.            Ms Vijaya Sharma, C/o NIPER, Executive Officer                                   The officers of the Board brought out that the project proponent was granted consent to operate under the Water Act, 1974 vide no. CTOW/Fresh/SAS/2019/9287183 dated 25/10/2019, valid upto 31/3/2022 for 80 Flats, for 38 KLD onto land for plantation & remaining 6 KLD will be reused for flushing after treatment, subject to following special conditions: 1.                   The promoter company shall maintain and operate its Sewage Treatment Plant (STP), regularly and efficiently, so as to achieve the standards prescribed by the Board, consistently for such discharges. 2.                   The promoter company shall ensure the compliance of the conditions of environmental clearance granted to the promoter company vide its letter dated 5/6/2015.                                 The Board received a complaint from Sh. Lakhbir Singh regarding release of untreated sewerage water in vacant plot to verify the complaint, the site was visited by officer of the Board on 16/7/2021 and report that the project proponent did not comply with provisions of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.                                 Accordingly, the project proponent was served earlier show cause notice for revocation of consent to operate granted under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 vide Board's letter no. 4519-20 dated 6/8/2021 alongwith an opportunity of personal hearing before the Senior Environmental Engineer (ZP-1) of the Board on 17/8/2021, wherein, it was decided that: 1)                  The Environmental Engineer, Regional Office, SAS Nagar shall visit the site and to verify the cause of stagnation of effluent in the area. He shall also verify the status of mode of disposal of the nearby the residential areas. 2)                  After verification, Environmental Engineer, Regional Office, SAS Nagar shall send further recommendations, accordingly.                                 The proceedings of the hearing were conveyed to the project proponent vide Board's letter no. 4738-39 dated 18/8/2021 for compliance.                                 To check the compliance of hearing decisions, the site of the project was visited by officer of the Board on 18/12/2021 and it was observed as under: 1)            STP was in operation. The project proponent has not installed water meter on all treated wastewater mode of disposal points and project proponent has not installed energy meter.  2)            Sample from outlet of STP was collected and same was analyzed by Board's Lab. As per the analysis report, the concentration of the parameter of BOD-134 mg/l was found, which was beyond the permissible limits as prescribed by the Board. 3)            The site of complaint was also visited and observed that no water was found stagnant at the site of vacant plots outside the boundary of group housing society. 4)            The project proponent has provided two submersible pumps for groundwater abstraction and provided water meter over one of it only. As per record checked from 1/12/2021 to 18/12/2021, 64.6 KLD fresh water was being consumed from one borewell and some consumption from borewell 2 must also have taken place. Considering generation of sewage as 80% of water consumption and assuming that no fresh water was extracted from 2nd borewell on which no meter is provided, the total sewage generation shall be 51.73 KLD. Hence there is gap in 9.73 KLD in wastewater generation and treated water disposed from STP as per record checked from 1/12/2021 to 18/12/2021. The capacity of STP is 80 KLD and is based on SAFF technology. Hence, signifying that the project proponent may be disposing off untreated water in an unscientific manner.                                 In compliance of the decisions of hearing dated 17/8/2021, the letter for non-compliance of the decisions of the hearing was served to the project proponent vide Board's letter no. 2028-29 dated 25/3/2022 alongwith an opportunity to submit the reply within 15-days. But, the project proponent was not submitted any any in the said matter.                                 The project proponent has failed to apply for renewal of consent to operate under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, which were expired on 31/3/2022.                                 The matter was considered by the Competent Authority and decided to give another opportunity of personal hearing to the project proponent before taking further action in the matter.                                 The project proponent has failed to comply with the conditions of consent to operate earlier granted to it under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.                                  It is evident that the project proponent is violating the provisions of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, willfully causing pollution in the vicinity, thus violating the provisions of the said Act, intentionally and deliberately. It was proposed to initiate action against the project proponent under the provisions of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, after affording an opportunity of show cause/ personal hearing.                                  Thereafter, the project proponent was served show cause notice for violation of the provisions of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 vide Board's letter no. 3484-85 dated 16/6/2022 with an opportunity of personal hearing before the Chairman of the Board on 29/6/2022. The representative of the project proponent during the hearing submitted as under: (i)               They will apply for renewal of consent to operate under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 within 15 days. (ii)             They are operating their STP regularly and efficiently. (iii)            60 families have started residing in the project. (iv)            They are using the treated wastewater for gardening and flushing purposes.                                 After hearing, the Chairman of the Board decided as under: 1.           The project proponent shall operate its STP regularly and efficiently so as to achieve the prescribed effluent standards and provide adequate mode of disposal. 2.           The project proponent shall ensure that the no untreated wastewater is discharged into sewer or used for any other purposes. 3.           The project proponent shall install water meter on all the mode of disposals proposed by the project proponent (gardening, flushing purposes and the remaining into M.C. sewer) and maintain the record of the same. 4.           The project proponent shall comply with also develop the composting/ vermicomposting to manage the biodegradable solid waste. PP shall not throw burn or burry any solid wastes in open outside premises or in drain/ water bodies and will follow Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 strictly. 5.           The project proponent shall promote use of alternatives of single use plastics (SUP) and awareness to discourage use of plastic, through their Corporate Environment Responsibility (CER) activities. 6.           The project proponent shall ensure that there are no usages of single use plastic- thermocol disposable items such as water bottles / water pouches/water cups, plates, forks, spoons, straw etc. and single use decorating material made of plastic-thermocol or any other non-biodegradable material in the premises.  7.           The Environmental Engineer, Regional Office, SAS Nagar shall visit the project to monitor the STP and to check the mode of disposal and verify the record maintained by the industry and the contents of the statement of the project proponent. If the STP installed by the project proponent fails to achieve the prescribed effluent standards, the environmental compensation shall be imposed on the project proponent from 5.4.2022 to the date of violation. 8.           The Environmental Engineer, Regional Office, SAS Nagar shall process the consent to operate application under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 applied by the industry on merits.                                 The proceedings of hearing were also conveyed to the industry vide Board's letter no. 4316-17 dated 15/7/2022 for compliance. But the industry was not submitted any compliance in the matter. The project proponent has applied renewal of partial Consent to Operate under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 for group housing having 80 flats. However, after deduction of late fees, the consent fees under Water Act, 1974 and Air Act, 1981 are adequate till 22.02.2023                                 To verify the compliance of the hearing decisions made by the industry, the site was visited by officer of the Board on 13/8/2022 and it was observed that: 1)            The project site has constructed 3 towers consisting of 120 flats , out of which 2 no. towers are of 3 BHK type and 1 no. tower is of 2 BHK type. Around 65-66 flats have been occupied. 2)            STP was in operation and the reading of the water meter provided at the outlet of STP was 14790 KL. No energy meter provided with the STP. The project proponent is maintaining the record of operation of STP in the logbook. As per record checked from 01.08.2022 to 12.08.2022, on an average 39 KLD waste-water is treated in STP. The PP has provided 2 no. final collection tanks for collection of treated waste-water from STP of size 5000 ltr each from where the water can be used for flushing and green area. Sample from outlet of STP was collected. As per analysis results, all the parameters found within permissible limits. During visit, water was being used for plantation purpose. The project proponent has installed separate water meter with the treated water line leading for flushing and for plantation. The reading of water meter on the line leading to flushing was 0 m3 and the reading of water meter on the line leading to plantation was 929.5 m3. The project proponent does not treated wastewater into flushing purposes. 3)            The project proponent has provided two submersibles for groundwater extraction and provided water meter over one of it only. The representative informed that the 2nd borewell is not being used. As per record checked from 3/8/2022 to 12/8/2022, 89.7 KLD fresh water is being consumed from one borewell. Considering generation of sewage as 80% of water consumption, the total sewage generation shall be 71.76 KLD. Hence there is gap in 32 KLD in wastewater generation and treated water disposed from STP as per record checked from 1/8/2022 to 12/8/2022. Hence, signifying that the project proponent may be disposing off untreated water in an unscientific manner. 4)            The solid waste is disposed off through 3rd party vendor. No arrangement for in-situ management of wet solid waste has been made. The project proponent has provided 1 no. compost pit for the horticulture waste generated from the green area. 5)            The project proponent has failed to apply for renewal of consent to operate under Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 which has expired on 31/3/2022.                                 The mater was considered by the Competent Authority of the Board and decided to give another opportunity of personal hearing to the industry before taking further action in the matter.                                 Therefore, the project proponent was served notice algonwith personal hearing before the Chairman of the Board on 26/10/2022, vide Board's letter no. 6264-65 dated 13/10/2022 alongwith another opportunity of personal hearing before the Chairman of the Board. However, the project proponent vide its email dated 25/10/2022 expressed its inability to attend the hearing on 26/10/2022 and requested for another date of hearing. The matter was considered by the competent authority of the Board and it has been decided to afford another opportunity of personal hearing. Therefore, the project proponent has been issued notice for personal hearing before the Chairman of the Board on 11/11/2022 vide Board's letter no. 6889 dated 9/11/2022.                                 The representatives of the project proponent who attended the hearing. The reply  submitted by Greater Mohali Municipal Officers & Others Welfare Co-Operative House Building Society Ltd., Mohali 1)                  The Greater Mohali Municipal Officers and others Welfare Cooperative Housing Building Society Ltd. Mohali has complied with almost all the points raised during the hearing by Hon'ble Chairman. 2)                  They also informed that they have applied for renewal of license for CTO and they are given the consent for air. 3)                  There are some clarification required regarding water intake and discharge. In this regard, they submitted that the gap in water drawn and disposed off is only due to un-presitended hot day around the checking period and they have to use water directly from the tubewell to save their green lawns and plantation from the scorching heat, no untreated water has ever been used by us. 4)                  As for as the disposal of solid waste is concerned, they submitted that solid waste is segregated by the individual households in wet and dry bins separately and it is taken to the nearest collection point in Sector-67 by our private vender, after they further disposed off by the MC. 5)                  There are only 60-65 nuclear families living in the society so far and quantity of garbage generated is too less. However, as suggested and proposed by PPCB they have intiated the process of construction of vermicomposting pits for the total population and the quantity of garbage generated from the society in the consultation with MC Kharar which already has its system working there and shall complete it in two months time. 6)                  Meters have been installed on treated water lines feeding the overhead tank for flushing. 7)                  Moreover, as advised they will display the awareness banner on" No to single use of Plastics" to save our environment. 8)                  They are also informed that they have made compliance with all the shortcomings mentioned in the notice and also operate STP regularly and efficiently and requested to grant the water consent.                                   After hearing the officers of the Board and the representatives of the project proponent, the Chairman of the Board decided as under: 1.       The project proponent shall operate its STP regularly and efficiently so as to achieve the prescribed effluent standards. If the STP installed by the project proponent fails to achieve the prescribed effluent standards, the environmental compensation shall be imposed on the project proponent from 5/4/2022 to the date of violation. 2.       The project proponent shall ensure that no untreated wastewater is discharged into sewer or used for any other purposes. 3.       The project proponent shall install water meter on all the mode of disposals proposed by the project proponent (gardening, flushing purposes and the remaining into M.C. sewer) and maintain the record of the same. 4.       The project proponent shall not use fresh water in flushing arrangement and only treated wastewater will be reused in flushing arrangement. 5.       Consent to operate applied under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 be granted upto 22/2/2023 (As per adequacy of consent fee deposited by PP). 6.       The project proponent shall comply with also develop the composting/ vermicomposting to manage the biodegradable solid waste. PP shall not throw burn or burry any solid wastes in open outside premises or in drain/ water bodies and will follow Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 strictly. 7.       The project proponent shall promote use of alternatives of single use plastics (SUP) and awareness to discourage use of plastic, through their Corporate Environment Responsibility (CER) activities. 8.       The project proponent shall ensure that there are no usages of single use plastic- thermocol disposable items such as water bottles / water pouches/water cups, plates, forks, spoons, straw etc. and single use decorating material made of plastic-thermocol or any other non-biodegradable material in the premises.  9.       The Environmental Engineer, Regional Office, SAS Nagar shall visit the project to monitor the STP and to check the mode of disposal and verify the record maintained by the project proponent and the contents of the statement of the project proponent and report with recommendations.                                 If approved, proceedings of the personal hearing as above may be conveyed to the project proponent and Environmental Engineer, PPCB, RO, SAS Nagar for compliance and sending the report, respectively. (Press the approval button for grant of consent as per decision no. 5)

Inspection:

false

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Officer:

PPCB054

Reject:

false

Reject Note:

Role:

ZO EE Kuldeep Singh