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It is submitted that the industry is a Small Scale Orange Category unit and is engaged in the casting and machining process and was granted Consent to Operate under Air Act, 1981 valid upto 10.06.2008 with condition that the industry shall shift its Cupola furnace from premises in a non-designated area to the designated industrial area within a period of 6 months. The industry has failed to comply with the same.
The industry neither has any proof regarding the classification of land use from the Competent Authority nor has any proof regarding ownership of land. The industry has submitted CA Certificate in which Land & Building is mentioned as on rent. But no documents regarding the same are submitted by the industry. The industry has submitted a Completion certificate of APCD from PSCST, which was issued on 05.11.2007.
Accordingly, the show-cause notice was issued to the industry for violations of Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016 along with the opportunity for a personal hearing wherein it was decided as under:-
1. The industry shall not operate its copula furnace till the adequate air pollution control device (APCD) is not provided.
2. The industry shall provide adequate APCD with a Copula furnace and environment data board at the main gate, within 10 days.
3. The industry shall obtain an adequacy certificate of its APCD from PSCST, Chandigarh and submit same to the Board, within 15 days.
4. The industry shall apply for consent to operate under Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 & Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and authorization under Hazardous and other Waste (Management & Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016, within 10 days.
5. The Environmental Engineer, Regional office-1, Ludhiana shall visit the industry after 15 days and submit report/recommendations in the matter.
Thereafter, the industry again applied for varied Consent to Operate under Water Act, 1974 and Air Act, 1981 for manufacturing of Workshop Equipment Tool Room Machinery @ 60 Nos./year and for the operation of Cupola furnace.
The industry submitted that they are not having any registered deed by their name and the case regarding land is under the consideration of Hon’ble Punjab and Haryana High Court. The industry has also submitted Small scale Industry proof, Completion certificate of APCD from PSCST, which was issued on 05.11.2007, a Compliance report of previous consent conditions, Site plan/Location plan, Manufacturing process flow chart and CA Certificate regarding fixed assets as on 31/08/2021.
The industry failed to shift its Cupola furnace from premises in a non-designated area to the designated industrial area as per the previous consent conditions. The industry failed to submit Land use classification and adequacy certificate of its APCD from PSCST, Chandigarh.
Accordingly, the consent to operate under Water Act, 1974 and AirAct, 1981 were refused on 23.01.2023 due to non-compliance.
Thereafter the industry was given personal hearing given before the Chief Environmental Engineer, Ludhiana on 06.03.2023 u/s 31-A of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, during the hearing it was decided as under:-
1. Directions u/s 31-A of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 be issued for sealing of cupola furnace and Environmental Engineer, Regional Office-2, Ludhiana be requested to seal cupola furnace of the industry and submit report, within 07 days.
2. The industry shall obtain consent to operate under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, within 15 days and till then it will not operate its unit.
In compliance to above, cupola furnaces installed by the industry was sealed in the presence of Mr. Jorawar Singh (representative of the industry) and report was sent to the competent authority vide letter no. 3042 dated 23.11.2023.
Now the industry has again applied for consent to operate under Water Act, 1974 and Air Act, 1981 along-with request for de-sealing of furnace. The industry has also given a request mentioning that the land where cupola has been installed belongs to them and a case is pending in court of Haryana and Chandigarh. This case is between 3 societies V/s Punjab Govt. He further submitted that case under consideration of the Hon'ble court and further assured to submit all required documents on receipt of the same.
The industry was visited by the RO on 19.1.2024 and it was reported as under: -
1. The industry was not in operation during visit.
2. The cupola furnace installed by the industry was not in operation during visit and the seals provided were found intact.
3. The industry has installed Wet Scrubber with Cupola furnace as APCD.
4. The industry has installed Environmental Data Board outside the industry.
5. The only issue in deciding the application is regarding the suitability of site where only cupola is installed and the matter is subjudice in Hon'ble court.
RO reported that as per the Govt. of Punjab notification dated 06.10.2023, as per which relief has been given to existing industry operating in residential zone and has been allowed to operate for further 3 years i.e. upto 10.09.2026 subject to fulfillment of PPCB norms and notification issued by the Department of Town and Country Planning, Punjab vide letter no. 5780-5816/CTP(PB)/SP-135 dated 24.09.2021 regarding amendment in Unified Zoning Regulations of Master Plans that all orange and reg category unit of Industries along with other activities permissible in the Mix Land Use Zone shall be allowed.
RO further reported that considering the above notification, industry can be granted CTO upto 10.09.2026 subject to the condition that in case the decision of pending court case goes against the industry, the cto shall stand revoked.
RO recommended to grant CTO to industry with suitable conditions and with the special condition that in case the final decision of court case goes against the industry, the consent granted stands revoked
In view of the above, the case is forwarded to Competent Authority for consideration of recommendations of RO and decision of directions u/s 31-A of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, please.
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