New Delhi, Jan 19 (PTI) The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday imposed a fine of Rs 12 lakh on carbon black manufacturer Birla Carbon's unit in Uttar Pradesh's Renukoot for discharging untreated water in a drain for 40 days in 2021.

The drain falls into the Renu river which finally merges with the Sone river.

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A bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava said an inspection on January 21, 2021, revealed the discharge of "black material" in the drain and the company did not object to the inspection report, nor did it give any explanation to the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB).

The bench, also comprising judicial members Justices Sudhir Agarwal and Arun Kumar Tyagi, and expert member A Senthil Vel, said the second inspection conducted on February 9 found similar violations.

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According to the UPPCB's second inspection report, the discharge of black water, which contained untreated carbon, in the drain was found. The pollution was caused by overflow from the unit's Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP), it said.

"What was found on February 9 is admitted by the proponent (Birla Carbon) but it could not show that violations found had commenced only on that day and were not in existence prior to it," the bench said.

Rejecting Birla Carbon's argument that remedial measures were taken within four days of the second inspection, the bench said there was no evidence to establish that the violations were checked.

The tribunal said the company's unit could have informed the concerned authorities about the remediation of the violations and they could have verified it but no such steps were taken.

"In these facts and circumstances, the self-claimed contention of the proponent without being supported by any material that it had remediated violations within four days, is clearly unacceptable," it said.

The tribunal said Birla Carbon was liable to pay environmental compensation for the period when violations were first detected on January 2, 2021, till the time the remediation was verified by authorities on March 2, 2021.

Fixing the quantum of compensation at Rs 30,000 per day, the tribunal calculated the environmental compensation for 40 days would be Rs 12 lakh.

"We accordingly hold the proponent liable to pay environmental compensation of Rs 12 lakh which it shall pay to the UPPCB after deducting the amount already paid, within two months," it said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)