| File Note: |
Subject: Proceedings of the personal hearing given before the Hon’ble Chairperson of the Board on 16.03.2026 w.r.t. show cause notice for refusal of renewal of Consents to Operate under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and notice to issue directions u/s 33-A of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and u/s 31-A of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981M/s "Amity University" by Ritnand Balved Education Foundation, Block-D, Sector-82 Alpha, IT City. Distt. SAS Nagar.
The following were present: -
On behalf of Punjab Pollution Control Board
1. Er. Lavneet Kumar, Member Secretary
2. Er. Gursharan Dass Garg, Senior Environmental Engineer (ZP-I)
3. Er. Mohit Bisht, Environmental Engineer (ZP-1)
On behalf of the Project Proponent
1. Sh. Sachin Saini, Project Head
2. Sh. Ansh, Sr. Officer
At the outset, Senior Environmental Engineer, (ZP-1) brought out that: -
It is submitted that the institute was earlier granted varied consent to operate vide no. CTOW/Varied/PBIP/SAS Nagar/2024/2403555041 dated 21.05.2024 under the provisions of Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and vide no. CTOA/Varied/PBIP/2024/2403423813 dated 21.05.2024 under the provisions of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, both having validity upto 31.03.2025 for Operation & occupancy of components of University in total land area of 40.44 acres (for Built up Area@68,128.06 sqm) & for accommodating strength of students, staff & visitors @ 2650 and Hostellers @ 250, subject to certain conditions as mentioned therein.
The industry was earlier given personal hearing before the Chairman of the Board on 19.03.2025 w.r.t. show cause notice for revocation/cancellation of consents to operate under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 vide letter no. 7023-24 dated 28.03.2025.
After hearing the representatives of the educational institute and officers of the Board and considering the material aspects of the case, the Chairman of the Board decided as under:
1) The consent to operate granted to the educational institute under the provisions of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 shall be revoked/cancelled due to reasons as mentioned above.
2) The educational institute shall submit bank guarantee amounting Rs. 5.00 lacs in the Regional Office, SAS Nagar of the Board as an assurance to comply with the environmental laws, within 07 days.
3) The educational institute shall apply fresh consents to operate under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 after complying with above decisions of the personal hearing.
4) Environmental Engineer, Regional Office, SAS Nagar shall visit the educational institute, verify the submissions of the representative of the institute made during the hearing, check the compliance of the decisions of the industry, collect fresh effluent samples from the ETP as well as STP installed by the institute and process the consent applications to be applied by the educational institute on merits, immediately after 7 days. Bank Guarantee
The project proponent had deposited a bank guarantee amounting Rs. 5,00,000/- vide bearing no. 81430ILG014225 dated 19.04.2025, having validity upto 18.04.2026.
The institute has applied for obtaining fresh consent to operate under the provisions of Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 for University in total land area of 40.44 acres and Built-up Area @ 102352.1 sqm, along with requisite documents.
The institute was visited by the officer of the Board on 12.01.2026. During the visit, it was observed as under:
1) The University is having a single block comprising both academic and hostel area of B1+B2+G+5 configuration. The University has earlier obtained consent to establish (NOC) for university (educational institute) in an area of 40.44 acres, having built up area of 94,928.28 sqm. Now, the pp has applied consent to operate for university in total land area of 40.44 acres and Built-up Area @ 1,02,352.1 sqm. The project proponent has constructed total basement area 23,807 sqm., mumty area 672.74 sqm., hostel 14379.52 sqm, and academic area of 63492.89 sqm out of 73570.41 sqm.
2) Earlier, the project proponent has obtained consent to operate for accommodating strength of students, staff & visitors @ 2650 and Hostellers @ 250. Now, the project proponent has applied for obtaining fresh consent to operate for accommodating strength of students, staff & visitors @ 4500 and Hostellers @ 780.
3) The University is an educational institute having different education courses.
4) The representative informed that the total strength of the university is about 3500-4000 approximately.
5) The project proponent has installed STP for treatment of wastewater generated from the premises and the same was in operation. The treated effluent is being used for flushing and irrigation of the green area. Samples from the STP has been collected and sent to HO Lab Patiala for analysis.
6) The condition of the STP reflects that the components are not being cleaned/maintained regularly. The inlet pipe of MBBR tank got choked with sludge. At the time of the visit, no attached growth was observed on the membranes of the aeration tank, indicating inadequate biological activity.
7) The project proponent has installed ETP of capacity 5 KLD. However, the same was not in operation at the time of visit.
8) The institute has connected its sewer line with GMADA. However, due to less generation of wastewater, there is no discharge in the GMADA sewer.
9) The promoter company has provided 02 no. DG sets, of capacity 1300 KVA (1 no. DG set 600 KVA & 1 no. DG set 700 KVA). All the DG sets are provided with canopy and adequate stack heights.
10) The project proponent has installed a mechanical composter of 300 kg/day capacity for in situ management of bio-degradable solid waste. Proper record of the same is being maintained on daily basis.
11) Unsegregated solid waste was found lying in open ground at the time of visit.
Apart from the violations observed during inspection by the visiting officer of the Board like unscientific operational condition of STP, non-operation of ETP and presence of unsegregated solid waste was found lying in open ground; it has also been brought out that the institute has undertaken expansion activities without obtaining Environmental Clearance from the competent authority and has expanded the project beyond the scope of the previously granted Consent to Establish (NOC), without obtaining valid consents from the Board. It is worth to mention here that as per special condition imposed in the last granted consents to operate granted to the institute i.e., “The institute shall immediately apply to SEIAA, Punjab for obtaining environmental clearance before carrying out construction beyond 68126.06 sqm in light of Office memorandum issued by MoEF&CC vide no. F. No. 3-85-2016-IA-III[E 81594] dated 30.04.2024 in compliance to the judgment dated 06.03.2024 passed by Hon'ble High Court of Kerala in WP (C) No. 3097 of 2016 in the matter titled as One Earth One Life vs. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change & Anr.”
From the report of the visiting officer, it is clear that the institute is violating the provisions of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974; the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (for violations of the provisions of the EIA notification dated 14.09.2006), intentionally & deliberately.
The competent authority has decided to refuse the applications filed by the institute for grant of Consents to Operate under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 & the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981; as well as take stringent action against the institute by issuing directions u/s 33-A of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974; u/s 31-A of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981; and u/s 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (for violations of the provisions of the EIA notification dated 14.09.2006), after affording an opportunity of show cause-cum-personal hearing to it.
The matter has been viewed seriously by the competent authority of the Board and decided to take stringent action against the project proponent by way of issuing show cause notice for refusal of renewal of Consents to Operate under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 notice to issue directions u/s 33-A of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and u/s 31-A of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
Accordingly, notice to issue show cause notice for refusal of renewal of Consents to Operate under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 notice to issue directions u/s 33-A of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and u/s 31-A of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 issued vide Board’s letter no. 7967 dated 19.02.2026 alongwith another opportunity to appear in person before the Chairperson of the Board at Punjab Pollution Control Board, Vatavaran Bhawan, Nabha Road, Patiala on 10.03.2026 at 11:00 AM, with the following proposed directions:
i. That the institute shall not allow any further occupancy.
ii. That the institute shall stop forthwith discharging any effluent / emissions/ solid waste generation & disposal from its premises or through any mode.
iii. That the institute will immediately stop its activities and will not restart the same unless all necessary water and air pollution control measures are taken and obtains valid consents of the Board.
iv. That the institute shall not undertake any further construction or development activity at the educational institute or its portion/part/block(s), in its premises, without obtaining Environmental Clearance as required under EIA Notification, 2006, with immediate effect.
v. That the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd. authorities shall be directed to disconnect the supply of electricity available to the educational institute.
vi. That DG sets installed, if any by the educational institute shall be sealed.
vii. That an environment compensation of suitable amount be imposed on the institute.
The analysis results of effluent sample collected from outlet of STP during visit revealed the concentration of various parameters as pH-9.3, TSS-15 mg/l, BOD-15 mg/l, COD-50 mg/l, O&G-BDL. The conc. of pH is beyond the permissible discharge limit of 9 mg/l as per General Discharge standards.
The hearing could not be conducted on 10.03.2026, due to administrative reasons and it was decided to give another opportunity of personal hearing to the industry before the Hon’ble Chairperson on 16.03.2026.
The representatives of the project proponent attended the hearing but had not submitted any written reply. They informed that the inspection was conducted in the month of January, 2026 when the university was not operational, therefore, the ETP was not in operation and condition of STP seemed unmaintained. It was brought out that the STP was found to be inadequately maintained at the time of inspection and the analysis results of treated effluent sample of STP failed to achieve the prescribed standards. Further, unsegregated solid waste was found lying in open areas, reflecting poor environmental management practices. It is further brought out that the institute has undertaken expansion of the project beyond the approved built-up area without obtaining prior Environmental Clearance from the competent authority, in contravention of the provisions of the EIA Notification dated 14.09.2006 and specific conditions of the Consent granted by the Board.
After hearing the representatives of the project proponent and officers of the Board and considering the material aspects of the case, the Chairperson of the Board decided as under:
1. The applications submitted by the institute for grant of Consent to Operate under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 be refused.
2. Member Secretary, SEIAA, Punjab shall be written apprising of the violations committed by the institute with respect to undertaking construction/expansion without obtaining prior Environmental Clearance, for taking appropriate action under the provisions of the EIA Notification, 2006.
If approved, the proceedings of the personal hearing as per above be conveyed to the project proponent as well as RO for compliance |
