Satish Law Agency

The National Green Tribunal on 15.05.2020 expressed concern over the repeated allegations of "tankers mafias" in the Capital New Delhi engaged in the extraction of groundwater without any remedial action by the authorities. The tribunal was hearing a plea filed by city resident Rakesh Kumar alleging that water filling plants were being operated without license and supplying contaminated water to the residents at the Kashmere Gate here. The tribunal observed that illegal extraction of groundwater was a criminal offence and directed the authorities to devise effective mechanism for preventing its withdrawal through unauthorised tubewells. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed that a suitable mechanism for preventing extraction of ground water by illegal tubewells needs to be devised and wherever such illegalities found, prompt coercive measures must be taken.  "Illegal extraction of ground water is a criminal offence under the Env...

The National Green Tribunal took  suo motu  cognisance of the gas leak incident in Vizag that left at least 11 people dead and affected several others. The leak of hazardous styrene gas at the Visakhapatnam plant in the early hours of Thursday killed at least 11 people and exposed hundreds of other people in nearby villages to serious health issues. NGT bench headed by chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel asked the company to pay the initial deposit with the district magistrate of Visakhapatnam and also sought a response from the Centre. “The committee may specifically report on the sequence of events, causes of failure and persons and authorities responsible, extent of damage to life, human and non-human, public health and environment – including water, soil and air, steps to be taken for compensation of victims and restitution of the damaged property and environment and the cost involved,” the bench said. The tribunal also set up a five-member fact-f...