Chennai: The southern bench of National Green Tribunal has set aside the environmental clearance granted to a pharmaceutical company to expand its unit in Krishnapatnam Industrial Area in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh.
A bench comprising Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and expert member Satyagopal Korlapati passed the order on an appeal moved by Sri Mahalakshmi Hatcheries challenging the environmental clearance given to Divis Laboratories Limited.
Representing the petitioner, senior advocate Abdul Saleem submitted that the pharma company, which produces synthetic organic chemicals, is located near the notified aqua zone close to Krishnapatnam port. The peripheral area of the site comprises more than 3,000 hectares of shrimp farms within a radius of 10km. As the manufacturing process involves various raw materials, including chemicals like acids, alkalies, solvents, it would result in emission of carbon dioxide, ammonia and acids, he said.
Though, initially, the rules mandated the company to maintain Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) in its plants, the same was altered and the company was permitted to discharge treated effluents into the sea, the petitioner said.
The petitioner also claimed that discharge of constituents of different heavy metals, phenols, drugs, antibiotics and other chemical compounds into the sea would pose a threat to biotas (an aqua species). Hence, treatment of wastewater discharged through effluent treatment plant would not render 100% removal of pharmaceutical metabolites. “As a result, shrimps and other aquatic products will get exposed to this treated discharge leading to poisoning and other health issues,” the petitioner said.
Allowing the appeal, the tribunal set aside the environmental clearance dated June 28, 2021, and remanded the issue back to the authorities for re-appraisal. “The authorities should also examine the need for imposing a condition to adopt ZLD system for treatment of industrial effluents,” the tribunal said.
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