Cuttack: National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday refused to pass an interim order to stop the ongoing construction of a depot in Kanan Vihar area of Bhubaneswar. This depot is meant for storage and supply of compressed natural gas (CNG) to vehicles and piped natural gas (PNG) to residential houses through pipelines for domestic use. However, the NGT’s east zone bench in Kolkata issued notices to the ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEF&CC) and Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) on a petition seeking intervention against construction of CNG and PNG stations in a residential area.
Shukadev Mohanty, an 86-year-old resident of Kanan Vihar, filed the petition alleging that the respondent, Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), started construction without obtaining consent to establish (CTE) from Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB). Appearing on Mohanty’s behalf in the virtual mode, advocates Sankar Prasad Pani and Ashutosh Padhy contended that the proposed CNG and PNG station is being set up very close to residential houses in violation of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) guidelines and sought an interim stay on the ongoing construction.
Taking note of it, the bench of B. Amit Sthalekar (Judicial Member) and Dr. Arun Kumar Verma (Expert Member) said, “the matter requires consideration” and also issued notices to member secretaries of CPCB and OSPCB, petroleum & explosives safety organisation, additional chief secretary of the department of environment, forest and climate change, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, and Khurda collector. “All the respondents shall file their counter affidavits within four weeks,” the bench ordered and scheduled March 26 for the next hearing along with the replies from respondents.
According to the petition, the CPCB guidelines prescribe that the distance between a residential building and the petrol pump installation site should not be less than 50 metres. However, in the present case, the distance between the residential houses and the proposed CNG station site is less than 5 metres.
The CNG and PNG station is a depot that deals with the storage and supply of CNG to vehicles and PNG cooking gas for supply to households for domestic purposes through pipelines. This is very dangerous and explosive, so it should not be established near areas of habitation and should be set up at a distant place for the safety of life and property.