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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has constituted a nine-member joint Committee headed by Justice BC Patel, former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court and comprising various representatives of Centre and Gujarat state Government in connection with an incident where at least six people died and 20 fell ill after a gas leak at an industrial area in Surat.
In an order passed on January 18, Bench of NGT Chief Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel stated that "the Committee may ascertain the sequence of events, causes of failure and persons and authorities responsible, therefore, extent of damage to life, human and non-human and environment - including, water, soil, air; steps to be taken for compensation of victims and restitution of the environment, and the cost involved; remedial measures to prevent recurrence; any other incidental or allied issues found relevant, including particularly already acidic effluents flowing in the drain in question." Tribunal further stated that the committee will be free to interact with authorities in other States if a violator is found to be from another State. In view of repeated failures, a monitoring mechanism for monitoring in a time-bound manner may be ensured by the transporters and generators of hazardous waste including, the issue of installing GPS on vehicles transporting hazardous waste. "Based on the report, the State PCB and the District Magistrate may ensure recovery and payment of compensation to the victims and restoration of the environment", said NGT. The Chief Secretary, Gujarat may review the status and compliance of Hazardous Waste Management Rules, 2016 and take steps for bridging the gap in coordination with the concerned authorities. An action taken report may be filed by the CPCB, GPCB, District Magistrate and the Chief Secretary, Gujarat within four months with NGT." On January 6, 2022, Six people died and 20 others were admitted to the civil hospital after gas leakage at a company in the Sachin GIDC area of Surat early morning. According to Gujarat, the pollution control board's reports casualties have occurred due to the release of toxic gas resulting from the illegal discharge of hazardous waste/chemicals from a tanker into a natural drain. (ANI)
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