| File Note: |
Subject: Proceedings of the personal hearing given before the Chairman of the Board on 25/6/2024 w.r.t show Cause notice for refusal of consent to operate under the provisions of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981- M/s Roc Foods Ltd, Village Banmajra, Ropar- Kurali Road, Kurali, Rupnagar
The Following were present: -
On behalf of Punjab Pollution Control Board
1. Er. G.S Majithia, Member Secretary
2. Er. Lavneet Kumar, Senior Environmental Engineer (ZP-1)
3. Sh. Amrik Singh, Senior law Officer
4. Er. Navtesh Singla, Environmental Engineer (ZP-I)
On behalf of the Industry
1. Sh. Parteek Kumar, Director
2. Sh. Jasvir Singh, Manager
At the outset, Environmental Engineer, (ZP-1) brought out that: -
The industry was granted 'consent to operate' under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 vide no. CTOW/Renewal/RPN/2021/16026341 dated 26.11.2021 which was valid up to 30.07.2022 and under the Air (Prevention &Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 vide no. CTOA/Fresh/RPN/2018/7247422 dated 15.05.2018, which is valid up to 31.03.2021 for Processed Chicken @ 5 MTD and using raw material as Dressed Chicken @ 5 MTD subject to conditions as mentioned therein.
The industry was given opportunity of personal hearing before the Chairman of the Board for violating the provisions of the Water Act, 1974 and the Air Act, 1981 on 02.06.2023 wherein it was decided as under: -
1) M/s ROC Foods Limited and M/s Star Foods Limited, Village Banmajra, Kurali Ropar Road, District Rupnagar shall deposit Environmental Compensation amounting to Rs. 25 lakhs each to the Board within 15 days.
2) Both the industries shall ensure the common ETP installed by them be operated regularly and efficiently.
3) Both the industries shall apply for consent to operate under the Water Act, 1974 and Air Act, 1981, immediately.
The industry had applied for obtaining renewal of consent to operate under the provisions of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
The industry was visited by officers of this office 01.08.2023 and Sh. Surjit Singh was contacted and during visit it was observed as under: -
1) The industry is engaged in business of production of ready to eat veg/non-veg products and same was in operation.
2) Manufacturing of processed chicken is as follow: (Dressed Chicken) Raw material -> Grinding/chopping/forming - cooking -> packing -> storage -> dispatch.
3) The industry has installed ETP of capacity 700 KLD being used commonly by M/s ROC foods ltd and M/s Star foods and the same was in operation. The components of the ETP are Bar Screen, oil and; grease trap, equalization tank, chemical dosing tank, primary tube settlers (2 no. in parallel), FAB-1, FAB-2, Secondary tube settlers (02 nos. in series), extended aeration tank, secondary tube settlers (02 nos. in series), pre- filtration tank, sand filters, carbon filters.
4) The wastewater generated from the washing of utensils/floor washing is going to common ETP for the treatment. The common ETP was in operation and treated effluent is being utilized onto land for plantation area developed within the premises by connecting flexible pipe. During visit, all the diffusers of equalization tanks were found not working.
5) The industry has installed electromagnetic flow meter at the final outlet of the ETP. The industry is maintaining the record of wastewater treated through the ETP. As per the record maintained by the industry, presently 70 KLD of wastewater is being treated in the ETP.
6) The industry has installed 03 no. DG sets of capacity of 500 KVA each which are equipped with canopy and stack of adequate height.
The industry was found violating the provisions of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 & the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and also failed to comply with the decisions of the personal hearing given to it by the Chairman of the Board.
The industry was issued show cause notice for refusal of consent to operate applied under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 vide Board’s letter no. 6662 dated 20.08.2023.
The industry has filed an appeal against the decision of the hearing dated 02.06.2023 before the Appellate Authority.
The reply submitted by the industry was found non satisfactory and the appeal filed by the industry was pending before the Hon'ble Appellate Authority. As such, the application of the consents applied by the industry under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 & the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 were returned.
The Appellate Authority vide order dated 04.01.2024 decided as under: -
"I deem it appropriate to relegate the case to the Chairman, Punjab Pollution Control Board with a direction to keep in abeyance the decision for imposition of Environmental Compensation upon ROC Foods Ltd. Further, the Chairman, Punjab Pollution Control Board shall issue necessary instructions for periodic inspection of the appellant industries over a period of next three months. If any violation is observed, then necessary action may be taken accordingly."
The industry has now applied for obtaining renewal of consent to operate under the provisions of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 alongwith requisite documents. However, the industry has not deposited adequate consent fee for air consent and needs to deposited Rs. 84000/- under Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 to make the consent fee adequate up to 31.03.2025.
The site of the industry was visited by the Environmental Engineer Regional Office, Rupnagar on 30.04.2024. During the visit, it was observed as under: -
1) The industry is engaged in business of production of ready to eat veg/non-veg products ration.
2) The slaughtering and rendering process was not in operation. The representative informed that slaughtering is done in early morning. During visit, packing of raw chicken of cooling of sausage was in operation.
3) Manufacturing of processed chicken is as follow (Dressed Chicken) Raw material -> Grinding/chopping/forming - cooking -> packing -> storage -> dispatch.
4) The industry has installed ETP of capacity 700 KLD being used commonly by M/s ROC foods ltd and M/s Star foods and the same was in operation. The components of the ETP are Bar Screen, oil and; grease trap, equalization tank, chemical dosing tank, 2 primary tube settlers, FAB-1, FAB-2, 2 Secondary tube settlers, extended aeration tank, 2 tertiary tube settlers, pre- filtration tank, sand filters, carbon filters. Some foaming / overflow of wastewater in FAB-1 was observed.
5) The industry has installed 2 no. secondary tube settlers and 02 tertiary tube settlers, out of 4 tube settlers, 2 were not in operation.
6) The wastewater generated from the washing of utensils/floor washing is being treated in common ETP. The common ETP was in operation and treated effluent is being utilized onto land for plantation. The plantation area of the industry was also visited and it was observed that the same is developed as per Karnal Technology in 8 acres. However, lot of wild growth was observed in the plantation area and the treated wastewater was not being distributed evenly in the plantation area.
7) The industry has installed electromagnetic flow meter at the final outlet of the ETP. The reading of water meter provided at outlet of 87702 KL. The industry is maintaining record of operation of ETP. As per the record maintained by the industry, presently ~200 KLD of wastewater is being treated in the ETP.
8) During visit, the effluent samples were collected and sent to Head Office, laboratory, as per analysis report received, the concentration of the parameters pH 7.7, TSS- 118 mg/l, TDS- 1270 mg/l, COD- 104 mg/l, BOD- 35 mg/l, Oil & Grease, 6.0 mg/l, MLSS-1740 & MLVSS- 710 were found beyond the permissible limits of the Board.
9) The industry has installed 03 no. DG sets of capacity of 500 KVA each which are equipped with canopy and stack of adequate height.
The industry is not complying with the provisions of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the industry has not deposited adequate fee under Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 intentionally and deliberately.
It has now been proposed to refuse the consent to operate applied by the industry under the provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 & the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 after affording an opportunity of show cause-cum-personal hearing.
As such, show cause notice for refusal of consent to operate under the provisions of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 has been issued vide Board's letter no. 1413 dated 14/06/2024 along with an opportunity to appear in person before the Chairman, Punjab Pollution Control Board, Vatavarn Bhawan, Nabha Road, Patiala on 25/06/2024 at 11.00 a.m.
The representatives of the industry attended the hearing and submitted that the industry has installed new diffusers and make requisite modifications in the ETP. Further, he has shown report from the private laboratory during visit indicating that the parameters at outlet of ETP are within prescribed limits. The industry has further informed that during the visit they have taken 2 no. tube settlers on the maintenance and now the ETP plant is running regularly. He informed that there was only one particular area of plantation where wild growth of weeds were there but the industry has now improved the same. The written reply submitted by the industry during the hearing was taken on record.
After the hearing to the industry and the officers of the Board, the Chairman of the Board decided as under: -
1. The industry shall deposit Environment compensation of Rs. 10 lac for violating the Environmental norms.
2. The industry shall operate its ETP regularly and efficiently to achieve prescribed standards at all the times.
3. The industry shall properly maintain its plantation area and ensure uniform distribution of the treated waste water in the same.
4. Environmental Engineer, Regional office, Rupnagar shall revisit the industry surprisingly after 15 days, verify the compliances, collect samples and submit its concrete recommendations. In case, the industry again fails to comply with the Environmental norms during this visit, the decision for imposition of the Environmental compensation amounting to Rs. 15 lac shall be taken accordingly.
5. Environmental Engineer, Regional office, Rupnagar shall return the application of the industry applied under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 immediately with request to the industry for resubmission of the same complete in all respect within 7 days.
6. Further action shall be taken after the receipt of the report from the Regional Office.
If approved, the proceedings may be conveyed to the industry as well as Regional office for compliance. |
