Court prioritized residential safety over regulatory designations in upholding CPCB guidelines on petroleum outlet siting.

JUDGEMENT

Delivered by Smt. Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana, Judicial Member

1. This is yet another application challenging the establishment of a petroleum retail outlet based on the siting criteria guidelines issued by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

2. The applicant is a resident of Naduvannur Village, residing at Sy. No.12/163 of Naduvannur Post, Koyilandi Taluk, Kozhikode District. He is aggrieved by the establishment of a fuel station at Sy. No.198 of Naduvannur Village, Koyilandi Taluk, which is adjacent to the applicant’s house.

3. Since no fruitful actions were taken by the authorities despite several complaints submitted by him, the present Original Application has been filed.

4. According to him, there are several residential buildings in that area and residential buildings are also being constructed. There is also a registered society named ‘Suraksha Residents Association’. Quoting the siting criteria for setting up of a new petroleum retail outlet, as issued by the CPCB in its Office Memorandum (O.M.) dated 07.01.2020, the applicant has alleged that the proposed fuel station has obtained license from the Petroleum & Explosives Safety Organization (PESO) on 12.08.2021, violating the siting criteria.

5. Admittedly, the petroleum retail outlet of Respondent No.6 is within 30 Meters, which is roughly 2.5 meters from the unit, which is in violation of the O.M. dated 07.01.2020. The No Objection Certification (NOC) was issued by the District Collector based on the direction given by the Hon’ble High Court of Kerala in W.P. 19348 of 2023. Since the PESO license as well as the NOC were obtained by the 6^th Respondent after the guidelines dated 07.01.2020 was issued, the petroleum retail outlet has to be in strict adherence to the distance mentioned therein.

6. As the distance criteria is not complied with, the above Original Application is filed for taking action against Respondents No.5 & 6 and restraining them from setting up a petroleum retail outlet.

7. The District Collector – Kozhikode/Respondent No.1, in his reply affidavit, has stated that based on the report of the Tahsildar – Koyilandi who has mentioned that there are no schools, petrol bunks, hospitals and railway canals located within a radial distance of 50 Meters from the proposed petrol pump, NOC was issued. He has stated that as per the letter of the Joint Director, Local Self Government Department dated 22.06.2023, there is no approved master plan or detailed town planning project in Naduvannur Gram Panchayat at present. Besides, the Hon’ble High Court had directed the District Collector - Kozhikode to take an independent decision for granting NOC without waiting for consent from the Kerala SPCB or NOC from any other authority concerned. In light of the said direction only, the NOC was issued by the District Collector.

8. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)/ Respondent No.2, in its reply, has stated that as per Guidelines dated 07.01.2020 for setting up of new petrol pumps/ retail outlets, the same shall not be located within 50 Meters (from fill point/ dispensing unit/ vent pipe whichever is nearest) from schools, hospitals, and residential areas designated as per local laws. It is also mandated that in case of constraints in complying with 50-meter distance criteria, the retail outlet shall implement additional safety measures as prescribed by PESO. The guidelines further insisted on at-least 30 meters of distance criteria between the retail outlet from schools, hospitals, and residential areas designated as per