The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered the special committee, formed to monitor the implementation of remedying the chromium-contaminated site in Ranipet, to expedite the process and noted that despite giving a time frame of six months, authorities showed no progress in over a year.
In a suo motu case on the ill-effects of chromium-bearing waste lying on the open land inside Tamil Nadu Chromate and Chemicals Ltd., which was abandoned nearly 25 years back at SIPCOT Industrial Complex, the NGT in 2022 ordered the Chief Secretary to the Tamil Nadu government to form a committee comprising secretaries of departments such as Environment, Climate Change and Forest, Finance, Industries, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), and a senior official from the Central Pollution Control Board.
The committee was to monitor the implementation of the action plan prepared to carry out the remediation process at Ranipet in a short span of time. Further, the Chief Secretary was asked to look into the issue personally and complete the preparation of a detailed project report in consultation with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras within six months and start work for permanent remediation within further six months with compensation from TCCL as per the ‘polluters pay’ principle.
The Tribunal had categorically stated that authorities cannot shirk their responsibility of protecting people from health issues for want of funds.
As per a compliance report filed by the TNPCB on the interim remediation, the consultant’s technical document was vetted on November 1. Phase-I of the remedial process will take 30 days to cap the existing hazardous waste stockpile. This will be followed by capping of new stockpile, construction of drainage network, construction of pond, and a new boundary wall.
“As the issue involves the remediation of the chromium contaminated site, we direct the Special Committee, formed as per NGT’s order, to expedite the process by conducting periodical meetings and complete the process as directed,” the NGT ordered.
