The western bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday, December 2, expressed dissatisfaction with the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board’s (MPCB’s) response to a sugar factory named ‘Appasaheb Nalawade Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana’ in Gadhinglaj tehsil of Kolhapur district found violating environmental norms in 2021-22 but still allowed to operate for 72 days in 2023-24. The bench has asked the MPCB to submit its response as to why the factory was allowed to operate at all.
In May 2023, Shahu Mokashi, a resident of Kolhapur district, filed an application with the NGT regarding pollution in the Hiranyakeshi River. The NGT in its order dated May 12, 2023, said that the river was being polluted by two industries namely Hiranyakeshi SSK Niyamit located in the state of Karnataka and ‘Appasaheb Nalawade Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana’ located in the state of Maharashtra. The principal bench of the NGT in July 2023 ordered two separate hearings considering the two industries were located in two different states. Ever since, hearings involving the Kolhapur-based sugar factory have been conducted by the western bench of the NGT in Pune.
In the last hearing of the western bench of the NGT held in September 2024, the MPCB submitted its response stating that a fine of ₹5,010,000 be imposed as environmental damages compensation (EDC) on the sugar factory for a period of 127 days including 55 days in 2021-22 and 72 days in 2023-24. To this, the western bench raised a question in the same hearing as to why the factory was allowed to operate for 72 days in 2023-24 if it was found violating environmental norms in 2021-22. The NGT then directed the MPCB to submit its response on this.
In the latest hearing, the MPCB failed to file an appropriate response to this query. Hence, the western bench of the NGT comprising justice Dinesh Kumar Singh and expert member Vijay Kulkarni expressed dissatisfaction with the MPCB’s response. In its order issued on December 2, the bench said, “We are highly dissatisfied with the reply affidavit submitted by the learned counsel for MPCB. As far as the response to our query is concerned, what we had intended to know by our previous order was that when violations were found on the part of ‘Appasaheb Nalawade Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana’ in 2021-2022, why then was it allowed to operate in the following years? Our query remains unanswered, as the board only mentioned the number of days the industry operated.”
Despite expressing dissatisfaction with the MPCB’s response, the bench has given the MPCB a final opportunity to respond to its query within two weeks from the date of uploading of the order. The next hearing is scheduled on March 26, 2025.
