JUDGMENT

Delivered by Smt. Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana, Judicial Member

1. The above application is filed by the applicant questioning the establishment of a retail petrol pump outlet by the 5^th respondent as a agency of the 6^th respondent in Sy. No. 108/6A, Boothangudi Village, Chidambaram Taluk, Cuddalore.

2. The main contention of the applicant is that the proposed petrol pump outlet is located at a distance of less than 50 meters from the Veeranam Lake which has an ecological importance and has a capacity of 1,465 mcft. The apprehension of the applicant is that if the 5^th respondent establishes the fuel station at the site which is less than 50 meters from the Veeranam Lake any leakage from the underground storage tank would be of great threat to ground water and soil contamination. The applicant also states that the 5^th respondent had not got consent from the 1^st and 2^nd respondent till date.

3. The applicant seems to have obtained the copy of the No Objection Certificate issued in favour of the 5^th respondent through Right to Information (RTI). According to the applicant despite giving representations to the District Collector and the District Revenue Officer citing the guidelines issued by the Central Pollution Control Board for setting up new fuel station. There was no action taken against the 5^th respondent. He contended further that the fuel station if established would discharge volatile organic compounds which would be hazardous not only to the health of the human but also to the environment. Hence, the applicant has sought for a permanent injunction fore-bearing the 5^th respondent from establishing the fuel station in the above referred address.

4. In response to the above application, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board had filed its independent report in which it is stated that the 6^th respondent had applied for grant of „No Objection Certificate‟ (NOC) under Petroleum Rules for proposed retail outlet to store petroleum to the District Revenue Officer, Cuddalore along with the details of the land, approval letter from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry etc., on 15.06.2021.

5. The application filed by the 6^th respondent was forwarded to the Superintendent of Police, District Fire Officer, Executive Engineer, Water Resources Organisation, Chidambaram, Superintending Engineer, Highways- Construction and Maintenance, Cuddalore, District Environmental Engineer, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, Cuddalore to inspect the proposed site for the new petroleum outlet and send a report. The site was also inspected by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board on 11.10.2021 and found that the site was vacant.

6. The report further stated that there were no schools, hospitals and residential areas found within a radial distance of 50 meters and hence the location proposed for the establishment of petroleum retail outlet is in confirmation with the guidelines issued by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The Pollution Control Board has stated in its report that the following permission and approvals were obtained by the petroleum outlet at Sy. No. 108/6A, Boothangudi Village:

(i) PESO (Govt. of India) Apprval No: A/P/SC/TN/14/10993(P508375)

dated 02.07.2021.

(ii) Permission from Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Department dated

22.07.2021.

(iii) No objection certificate from the Regional Engineer (Highways) dated

18.10.2021.

(iv) NOC issued by the Superintendent of Police, Cuddalore dated

07.09.2021.

7. The Sub-Collector, Chidambaram had also recommended for NOC to the District Collector by letter dated 29.10.2021. The NOC for storage of petroleum products was issued by the Additional District Magistrate/Additional Collector, Cuddalore on 02.12.2021 with relevant terms and conditions. The Executive Engineer, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, who visited the site on 08.04.2022 pursuant to the order of this Tribunal had observed as follows (i) The site is found vacant and no construction activities are carried out.

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