The Bombay High Court has asked Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) not to permit manufacturing units within 750 metres of a river from September 1 if existing facilities are not maintained for discharge of effluents.

Under the rules, facilities such as pipelines or Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) are required to be maintained to achieve the stipulated discharge standards. The directive was given by Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Nitin Jamdar who also asked the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to constitute within a month a committee for five MIDC estates in the state to monitor functioning of CETPs and for industrial units within MIDC areas.

The bench was hearing a PIL filed by Nicholas Almeida who sought action against polluting units in the state. The industrial estates whose reports were tabled in the Court about effluents being discharged into CETPs are Lote Parshuram Environment Protection Cooperative Society (Ratnagiri), Greenfield CETP Plant (MIDC Chincholi, Solapur), Badlapur CETP Association (MIDC Badlapur), Chikhloli-Morivali Effluent Treatment (MIDC Ambarnath) and Tarapur Environment Protection Society CETP.

Perusing the reports, the judges observed, "It appears that the CETPs are not in a position to comply with the statutory norms." The Court also directed the associations running CETPs to inform the state pollution control board (MPCB) about the highly polluting industries.

Besides, MPCB has also been asked to inform the concerned associations running CETPs about such action being taken. For instance, if directions for closure are issued by MPCB to the highly polluting industries, a copy of all such directions shall also be served on the associations running CETP so that the concerned association can monitor compliance, the judges noted.

The court further asked the associations to send particulars about such highly polluting industries to MPCB within four weeks. "On receiving such information, MPCB shall inform the concerned associations about the action being taken against the highly polluting industries, which shall also be done within four weeks thereafter," the judges noted.

The bench recently said if the highly polluting industries are allowed to discharge effluents which do not meet with the norms, the ultimate action of closure of CETP will result into closure of all the industries in that area.

It therefore asked the MPCB to take serious note of any information about highly polluting industries received from the associations. The judges asked MPCB to keep a check on the polluting industries on its own by carrying out surprise visits and taking samples of effluents being discharged by the units.

The Court said in order to comply with its order, the associations running CETP will be at liberty to take samples of effluents of the industries which the associations consider to be highly polluting or having potential for high pollution.

The associations shall also take into consideration the affidavit filed on behalf of MPCB, it noted. The bench opined that the associations running the CETP will also be at liberty to make appropriate arrangements and to direct their respective members to make appropriate arrangements to see that the effluents being discharged by individual unit are segregated in such a manner that the association and MPCB will be in a position to find out the highly polluting industries.

The Court asked the associations running CETP to ensure that the effluents being received from the chemical industries meet with the inlet norms for the CETP, so that after the treatment, the CETP is able to release the treated effluents within the permissible norms.

The court noted if the association running CETP finds effluents being sent by an individual industrial unit into its inlet are carrying such high pollution load that it will not be in a position to treat it for the purpose of meeting with CETP norms, the association shall discontinue receiving such effluents from the concerned unit after giving prior notice and thereupon the concerned industrial unit shall stop all manufacturing activities.

The court warned, "Hereafter any industrial unit having its own effluent treatment plant shall not carry on any manufacturing activity whenever its effluent treatment plant is not functioning for any reason whatsoever, whether for maintenance, repairs or for any reason whatsoever."

Similarly, whenever the CETP is not functioning for any reason whatsoever, the association shall call upon its members to stop manufacturing activities and the manufacturers shall thereupon stop their manufacturing activities, the judges remarked while adjourning the matter to August 30.