NGT turns down the plea of NTPC slapped with Rs 58 lakh penalty for environmental damages

The National Green Tribunal has rejected the request of the National Thermal Power Corporation for reviewing the massive penalty levied on it’s NTPC Vishnugad Hydropower project amounting to Rs 58 lakhs for violating the environmental norms by breaching the rules/laws and causing heavy environmental damage.

The NGT bench headed by its chairman justice Adarsh Kumar Goyal has while turning down the plea of NTPC said that there have been wide ranging breach of environmental norms as the slope of the muck dumped at the Hydropower project was dangerously double the standards with potential for erosion. This unmbiguously indicates as to how negligent or intentionally careless or knowingly violative is the NTPC management of environmental rules to inflict immense damage to the already fragile environment to the Uttarakhand hills which are still in the growing stages.

The NGT order added the erosion was seen in terms of gully formation in downstream of the muck dumps, making it unambiguous that the operative muck disposal sites were not being maintained as per the norms fixed by the ministry of environment and forests.

Turning down the NTPC appeal the chairman of the MGT justice Adarsh Kumar Goyal catagorically said in his judgement that there is no merit in the appeal as the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board has adequately invoked the penalty on the principle that pollution pays.

It added that the amount recovered by Pollution control board from NTPC may be rightly used for the resolution of the damaged environment the order said.

It may be recalled that the Rs 12500 crores hydropower project at Tapovan known as NTPC Vishnughat project was started in 2006 and was still under construction with about more than ,60% of the work executed.

The massive flash floods of February 2021 occurred after the glacial outburst at Nanda Devi has not only completely damaged this 529 megawatt electricity producing hydropower project being built on buffer area but has also resulted in claiming 100 lives of those working in Tapovan Hydropower projects with hundred from the nearby vicinity. Till date about 68 dead bodies have been recovered with 139 still missing.

The government of Uttarakhand has however declared all the missing as dead in order to enable the bereaved families get the financial compensation of Rs 6 Laks each including merely Rs fifty thousands to those injured. An Ordinance had been issued by the state government in this regard just two days ago.

Usually the missing persons are declared dead after seven years of their dissapearence but in the case of Chamoli ecological disaster the union n the state governments have taken a concrete generous stand to declare the missing as dead in order to financially help the bereaved families. In the 17 th June 2013’s dreaded ecological disaster too the missing were declared dead before stipulated seven years time but not as early as in the Chamoli disaster case.

Meanwhile true Samaritan Bollywood actor Sonu Sood who is famous for helping the poor, hapless and the jobless migrants especially during the Covid times being lauded by one n all has adopted four children who had lost their father during the Tapovan, flash floods on Feb 7.

He assured that he will loook after these four orphan children as his own family members and will finance their entire education, sustenance, medical care n everything througout their lives.

The proprietor n editor in chief of India TV Rajat Sharma too had donated Rs 65 lakhs for the disaster victims families.

pictures courtesy technology.com n Patrika