JUDGMENT

BY HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SUDHIR AGARWAL, JUDICIAL MEMBER

1. This Original Application (hereinafter referred to as ‘OA’) under Section 14, 15 & 20 of National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 (hereinafter referred to as ‘NGT Act, 2010’) has been filed by three applicants; Vijaysinh Dubbal, Santosh U. Sinha and Dattatraya Namdev Bharne complaining that manufacturing of chilled drinking water jars/cans (hereinafter referred to as ‘packaged water’) without obtaining consent to operate is going on by rampant abstraction of ground water in various places of Maharashtra including Nagpur and Pune. Those who are dealing in the above process of abstraction, packing and selling of packaged water are not taking care of potability and compatibility with the standards prescribed under environmental laws for potable drinking water and thereby becoming a hazard to health of human beings and this is going on with the connivance or passive cooperation/coordination or tacit approval of Statutory Regulators. Some of such proponents, engaged in the above business, are impleaded as respondents 10 to 13. Respondent 9 is the association of “R.O. Chilled Water Manufacturers Nagpur”.

2. Initially, OA was filed