Khushi Doshi
Published on: April 9, 2022 at 19:56 IST
The National Green Tribunal has Ordered the Union Environment Ministry to immediately notify the Standards for Pharmaceutical Effluent Discharge, chastising it for failing to do so.
It also Ordered the closure of industries in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh’s Pharmaceutical Hub, that do not meet Central and State Pollution Control Board Standards.
The Critical Order was issued, more than two years after the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change notified draught norms for permissible Effluent Discharge by Amending the Environment Protection (Rules), 1986 — only to withdraw these norms in its Final Notification.
The Tribunal Ordered that the standards proposed in the draught notification be followed while the Ministry finalised them, ‘in light of the serious consequences of unregulated discharge of API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) residue to the detriment of the Environment and Public Health.’
The Tribunal was hearing a Petition regarding the alleged discharge of active Pharmaceutical ingredients into the Balad, Sutlej, and Sirsa rivers in Himachal Pradesh by Pharma Industries in Baddi, Solan District.
Baddi is one of the Country’s most important Pharmaceutical hubs. The Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh area is home to over 270 businesses.
“As regards pollution other than that generated by pharma units, we reiterate our earlier direction of taking remedial action as per law by closing polluting units until compliance and fixing accountability for past Violations, following due process,” the National Green Tribunal Order stated.
The Green Tribunal cited the Union Ministry, saying, “Draft standards were formulated and notified on 23.1.2020, i.e., more than two years ago, based on expert study. The regulatory mechanism is such an important issue that it cannot be put on hold indefinitely because the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is unable to finalise the draught standards even after two years,”
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