NGT directs sugar co-op to pay Rs1.06cr for polluting Ghod river

Pune: The National Green Tribunal bench in Pune has directed the Sahakar Maharshi Shivajirao Narayanrao Nagawade Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Ltd in Shrigonda taluka of Ahilyanagar district to deposit Rs1.06 crore environmental damage compensation within two months with the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board for causing pollution of Ghod river through discharge of untreated waste and an accident at its molasses plant. "The environmental damage compensation (EDC) amount will be utilised for restitution of the site in question and for its upliftment," the bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh and expert member Sujit Kumar Bajpayee said in a ruling on Tuesday. The bench also directed the sugar cooperative to spend Rs75 lakh as preventive and Rs51 lakh as remediation measures, as estimated by experts from the Vasantdada Sugar Institute.
The bench directed the MPCB to prepare and issue, in consultation with concerned authorities, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) within three months for recording the damage to crop and agriculture in a scientific and objective manner in case of any industrial accident in future.Farmer Sachin Sudamrao Pachpute from Kashti village in the affected area had moved the green tribunal through advocate Tanaji Gambhire, seeking directions for closure of the sugar unit till all remedial measures for restoration of environment were undertaken. The applicant had cited damage to farm fields around the sugar cooperative due to untreated wastewater and molasses that erupted from the Feb 12, 2022, accident. An estimated 10,000 to 12,000 metric ton of molasses had flown into the farm fields following the accident, he stated. Apart from the sugar cooperative, the applicant had named the MPCB, the Central Pollution Control Board and the Ahilyanagar district collector as respondents in the matter. An expert panel report by the VSI had cited deficiencies in the operation of the sugar unit and its associated distillery.