‘Three large industrial units in North Chennai major polluters of Cooum’

Three large industrial units in North Chennai – Madras Fertilizers, Chennai Petroleum Corporation and Ennore Thermal Power Station – have been named major polluters of the Cooum River by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board.

In the ongoing hearings relating to the progress of the Cooum River restoration project, the Board said that it has sent show cause notices to the three units. Counsels sought time to file their replies.

Interestingly, the Pollution Control Board has identified a number of public institutions apart from the slum dwellers along the Cooum, a fact pointed out by the counsel for the appellant in this issue.

Among the other polluters identified are the public transport corporations the Metropolitan Transport Corporation and the State Express Transport Corporation. The counsel also pointed out that none of the large private industrial units or hotels have been pulled up.

PCB lacks initiative The National Green Tribunal’s Southern Bench, which heard the matter today, expressed dissatisfaction (with the Pollution Control Board) over the ‘sorry state of affairs’. The Board lacked the initiative to enforce pollution control laws but expected the Tribunal to drive it, the Judge observed.

Justice M Chockalingam also pointed out that the case has been dragging since 2009 and every government agency involved blames the other for the lack of progress.

Progress report The Tribunal also observed that at the meeting convened by the Chief Secretary on July 6, 2015, the Pollution Control Board, which is the agency directly associated at the ground level, had not been adequately represented. Neither the Member Secretary nor the Chairperson had been present. How could the government authorities know what was happening at the field level? he asked.

The Tribunal said the State Chief Secretary has to convene a meeting on the subject once in two months and submit a report on the progress made.

This is a fit case for “application of polluter pays” principle on industries and hotels that have sullied the river, he said.