Sarpanchs accused of burning pipeline continue to elude cops

Bhandari and other villagers,who have formed the Sagar Bachao Samiti,have said that if the existing pipeline did not have permission from the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) since 2004 for not following the norms,then the construction of a new pipeline was illegal.

“We will continue to protest against this. We had repeatedly requested the GPCB,GIDC and Sarigam industries not to dump their effluents on the beach as it affects the fish catch and is also in violation of the norms set up by Ministry of Environment and Forests,” said Bhandari,whose bail plea was rejected by a district court in Valsad last week.

Residents of Lord Seaside Society and the villagers have said that the industries have been violating the Water and the Environment Act by installing a pipeline.

Meanwhile,the legal counsels of villagers and the Lords Seaside Society are now waiting for the expert panel of Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT) to make its report as ordered by Chief Justice S J Mukhopadhyay. On March 19,Justice Mukhopadhyay had passed an order asking SVNIT to conduct a probe assisted by GPCB officials,while stating that the industries facing closure could start functioning on a trial basis.

A resident of Lords Seaside Society said: “The industries and monitoring agencies should have been punished for violating the law for so many years. We hope SVNIT understands the impact of pollution .”

According to a notice in August 2009 to Sarigam Waste and Effluent Management Company bearing the subject ‘Compliance of Coastal Regulation Zone notification and provisions of Water Act’,the consent (for operating CETP) lapsed on March 3,2004.

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