Item No. 06 Court No. 1 BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL PRINCIPAL BENCH, NEW DELHI Original Application No. 248/2023 (I.A. No. 400/2024)

Varun Gulati Applicant Versus State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors. Respondent(s)

Date of hearing: 18.07.2025 CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE PRAKASH SHRIVASTAVA, CHAIRPERSON HON’BLE DR. A. SENTHIL VEL, EXPERT MEMBER Applicant Mr. S.A. Zaidi & Mr. Kapil Sagar, Advs. for Applicant Respondent: Mr. Bhanwar Pal Singh Jadon, Mr. Harsh Vardhan Singh Rajawat, Ms.

Gargi Chaturvedi & Ms. Anjali Sharma, Advocates for UPPCB & State of UP Ms. Priyanka Swami, Adv. for R -1, 5 & 25 Ms. Suman Arora, Advocate for CPCB Mr. M.K. Singh, Advocate for R - 17 to 20, 22 & 23 Mr. Anuj Kumar Sharma, Advocate for R- 6 to 12.

ORDER

1. In this original application (OA), applicant has raised the grievance against the operation of dyeing industries in Roop Nagar, Arya Nagar and Tronica City of Loni area, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh in violation of the environmental norms. These units have been impleaded as respondent nos. 6 to 24.

2. Tribunal, initially, by order dated 13.04.2023, after taking note of the fact that these units are red category industries had formed a joint committee and had called for report of the joint committee.

3. Joint committee had submitted the report on 13.07.2023. Thereafter, Tribunal had considered the stand of the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) in respect of the report and by order dated

17.07.2023 directed the SPCB to re-examine the matter and take action, if the units were found to be operating in violation of the environmental norms including improper functioning of CETP. Thereafter, orders were passed by the Tribunal from time to time and report dated 17.07.2025 has been filed by the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB)

giving the current status.

4. A perusal of the report dated 17.07.2025 filed by UPPCB reveals that in the inspection conducted on 05.03.2025 and 06.03.2025, out of 19 units, 14 units were found to be complying, 5 units were found to be closed due to their own reasons and 6 MLD CETP at Tronica City, Loni, Ghaziabad was found to be complying. Details of all the 19 units have been disclosed. Report further reveals that in the earlier inspection done in the year 2023, the operation of CETP was found to be unsatisfactory and after issuing show cause notice, Environmental Compensation (EC) of Rs. 17 Lakh was imposed which has been recovered. Details of the report of UPPCB dated 17.07.2025 are as under:-

“I. Background of the Matter

3. That in the present matter, the issue pertains to discharge of untreated toxic effluents by 19 industrial units in Roop Nagar, Arya Nagar and Tronica City of Loni Area, Ghaziabad, U.P. and violating the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. The complaint has been made against 19 industries and 1 CETP. Specifically, 7 industries are situated in Roop Nagar, 4 industries in Arya Nagar, and 8 industries along with 1 CETP in Tronica City, Loni, Ghaziabad.

4. That it is pertinent to submit that the Hon’ble Tribunal has constituted a Joint Committee comprising of CPCB, UPPCB and DM Ghaziabad vide order dt. 13.04.2023, wherein the UPPCB acted as the nodal agency. That in compliance of the directions of this Hon’ble Tribunal the status reports dt.13.07.2023, 13.10.2023 and 02.01.2024 have already been filed before this Hon’ble Tribunal.

II. LATEST INSPECTION:

5. That it is most respectfully submitted that the latest inspection at the said sites in question was conducted on 05.03.2025 and 06.03.2025. Hence, the compliance status report on behalf of UPPCB is as under.

A Copy of the updated status report has been annexed herewith as ANNEXURE A-1.

III. STATUS AS PER THE INSPECTION

6. That it is to be noted that during the said inspection, out of the total 19 industrial units, 14 industrial units were found to be complying and 5 industries were found to be closed due to their own reasons. That the 6 ML