Chennai: The Southern bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed a starch firm, Spac Starch Products, Erode, to submit a compliance report to Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), following several violations found during inspections.TNPCB found that the firm had deployed additional machinery and commenced processes, including commissioning of a corn steeping liquor evaporator, without consent. The firm’s treated effluent also breached TNPCB standards at two disposal points.Further, six piezometric wells had been dismantled, resulting in constraints in monitoring groundwater quality. Though the firm had permits for 3kld (kilolitres per day) of sewage, its generation was 20kld.The case pertains to an appeal by the firm in Sept this year against a closure order, which had pointed out 14 shortcomings at the unit by TNPCB. Posting the matter for Sept 29, the bench comprising Justices Pushpa Sathyanarayana and Prashant Gargava said, “On the basis of the compliance report, TNPCB may inspect and give its report whether the unit can operate with the consented terms alone.”When the counsel for TNPCB insisted on a scientific study through a recognised university or a research institution to assess the impact of treated trade effluents on soil characteristics, the bench said that the appellant could carry out the study.
