| File Note: |
Subject: Proceeding of the personal hearing given on 23.04.2024 before the Chairman of the Board w.r.t. show cause notice for refusal of the consent to operate applied by the industry under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974- M/s Bhakra Beas Management Board Kotla Power House, Kotla Power House, Tehsil Anandpur Sahib, District Rupnagar.
The following were present:
From the Board side:
1. Er. G.S. Majithia, Member Secretary
2. Er. Pardeep Gupta, Chief Environmental Engineer (P)
3. Er. Lavneet Kumar, Senior Environmental Engineer (ZP-1)
4. Er. Navtesh Singla, Environmental Engineer (ZP-I)
From the industry side:
1. Sh. Davinder Soni, Senior Xen.
2. Sh. Rajesh Vishist, Senior Xen.
3. Sh. Varinder Pathak, Senior Xen.
The Environmental Engineer, Zonal Office-1, Patiala brought out that: -
That power plant was given an opportunity of personal hearing before Worthy Chairman of the Board on 14.07.2023, wherein, it was decided as under:
1. Consent to Operate under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 applied by the authorities may be granted for the period of six months.
2. BBMB authorities shall submit PERT chart regarding timing for constructions / installation / completion of STP, within one month.
3. BBMB authorities shall install / commission STP at site by 31.12.2023, in case of failure, Environmental Compensation shall be imposed without any further notice.
4. BBMB authorities, Kotla Power House, Anandpur Sahib, and Rupnagar shall submit bank guarantee to the Board amounting to Rs. 5 Lakh as per the decisions of the personal hearing on 27.04.2023, within one month.
5. Environmental Engineer, Regional Office, Rupnagar shall visit on fortnightly basis and monitor the progress of STP at site and send its report / recommendations, thereafter.
6. Further action shall be taken after the receipt of the report from Regional Office.
The power house was granted to 'Consent to Operate' under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 vide no. CTOW/Renewal/RPN/2023/21535377 dated 31/07/2023, valid upto 30/01/2024 and the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 vide no. CTOA/Renewal/RPN/2023/21535360 dated 21/04/2023, valid upto 31/03/2028for Power Electricity @ 76.3 Megawatt, with certain conditions mentioned therein.
The power plant has applied for obtaining renewal of consent to operate under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 alongwith requisite documents.
The power plant was visited by the officers of Regional Office, Rupnagar on 04.03.2024 and contacted Sh. Varinder Nath, Superintendent Engineer (O & M), BBMB Power House. During visit, it was observed as under:
General Information:
1. The power house is installed on Nangal Hydel channel with capacity to produce electricity @ 77.34 MW.
2. The power plant is in operation.
3. It has installed 03 no. of turbines with capacities of 28.93 MW, 24.2 MW and 24.2 MW. All these turbines are in operation.
Water Pollution & its control:
1. There are two no. of submersible pumps as source of fresh water and no water meters are provided with the same.
2. No record of water utilization, wastewater generation is being maintained.
3. It is using canal water for once through cooling of turbines and is then discharged into the canal itself.
4. The domestic effluent is being collected in 03 no. of underground tanks from where it is being lifted through moveable tankers for disposal of same to the Mojowal STP installed by the MC, Sri Anandpur Sahib.
5. No plantation area is developed for utilization of treated wastewater.
6. No wastewater treatment facility is provided by the unit.
Air Pollution and its Control:
1. It has installed DG set of capacity of 320 KVA which is equipped with canopy and stack of height about 3ft above it.
Hazardous Waste Management:
1. It is generating hazardous waste as 5.1 category being generated from DG set as well as from turbine cooling system.
2. As informed by the unit, the waste/used oil is being collected and sent to the Store and Transport Store, Ganguwal of BBMB from where it is auctioned to bidders.
3. The hazardous waste of category 5.2 is generated from the maintenance work and oil filtration (waste filters and sludge).
4. No storage facility is provided at the site.
5. It has not obtained the authorization for category 5.2.
Compliance to the decisions of persona hearing dated 14.07.2023:
1. It has not submitted the PERT chart for installation of STP.
2. It has not installed STP by 31.12.2023.
3. It has deposited the bank guarantee of Rs. 5 lakhs.
From the above, it is clear that the power plant is not complying with the provisions of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974and the decisions of the personal hearing dated 14.07.2023.
Therefore, it has been proposed to refuse the consent to operate applied by the power plant under the provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 after affording an opportunity of show cause cum personal hearing.
Accordingly, show cause notice for refusal of the consent to operate applied by the industry under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 has been issued vide Board's letter no. 46 dated 02.04.2024 with an opportunity to appear in person before the Chairman of the Board on 23.04.2024.
The representative of the industry attended the hearing and submitted that for tendering of STP work, the file has already been sent to Election Commission for permission and the work shall be completed within one year after allotment of the work. They informed that the bank guarantee has already been deposited and assured that the entire wastewater is being sent to STP Mojowal through tankers and no wastewater is being discharged through any unauthorized mode. They have submitted written reply of the show cause notice, which was taken on record.
After hearing the officers of the Board and the representative of the industry, the Chairman of the Board decided as under: -
1. BBMB authorities shall expedite the tendering process of the STP and shall ensure that the STP work be completed within one year. In case, the authorities has failed to commission STP within the time frame, further action including imposition of Environmental Compensation shall be initiated without any further opportunity of hearing.
2. BBMB authorities shall install GPS tracking on its movable tankers carrying untreated wastewater at the earliest and give assess of the same in the office of Environmental Engineer, Regional Office, Rupnagar. Further, the authorities shall ensure that no untreated wastewater is being discharged into any drain/ nallah in any circumstance.
3. The consent to operate applied by the BBMB authorities under the Water Act, 1974 be granted for one-year subject to the conditions as mentioned at Sr. No. 1 & 2.
4. Environmental Engineer, Regional Office, Rupnagar shall keep check on the progress of installation of STP as well as disposal arrangement of the untreated wastewater by the authorities and send its report/ recommendations, accordingly.
If approved, the proceedings may be conveyed to the authority as well as Regional Office for compliance, please. Also, the application may be approved as per decision no. 4. |
