NITOL JINN TRUST; PETER DIAS Vs. UNION OF INDIA; STATE OF GOA, THROUGH SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT & FOREST; GOA STATE POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD, THROUGH ITS MEMBER SECRETARY, WITH OFFICE AT 1ST FLOOR, DEMPO TOWERS, EDC PLAZA, PATTO, PANAJI, GOA; INSPECTOR OF EXPLOSIVES, WITH OFFICE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Shri V.Menezes, learned Counsel appearing for the Petitioners, Shri Lawande, learned Asst. Solicitor General appearing for the Respondent nos. 1 to 4, Shri A. N. S. Nadkarni, learned Advocate General appearing for the Respondent nos. 2, 3 and 5 and Shri Pangam, learned Counsel appearing for the Respondent no. 7.

(2.) The above Writ Petition, inter alia, prays for a writ commanding the Respondent nos. 1 to 6 to forthwith stop the illegal oil tanking activity of the Respondent no. 7 within the property bearing survey no. 111/1. The Petitioners have sought for a further relief directing the Respondent no. 7 to forthwith stop the oil tanking within the oil terminal and further directing the Respondent nos. 2 and 3 to constitute within the State of Goa, Crisis Committee, under the provisions of the Environment Act.

(3.) Briefly, the case of the Petitioners is that, Petitioner no. 1 is a Trust registered under the Indian Trust Act, which has public spirited individuals, dedicated to the cause of social issues and the second Petitioner is a resident of the Village of Sancoale and also a social worker. It is the contention of the Petitioner that the Respondent no. 7 is a joint venture of M/s. Zuari Industries Ltd and that the main business of the Respondent no. 7 is a bulk storage of toxic inflammable chemicals, such as Naphtha, High Speed Diesel, Kerosene and Motor Spirit and that the Respondent no. 7 has put up the Oil Tanking in the property bearing survey no. 111/1 of the Village of Sancoale, admeasuring an area of 101200 square metres. It is also the case of the Petitioner that the said plot abuts National Highway 17 B at an aerial distance of less than 100 metres from the thickly populated slum settlement across the National Highway and about 500 metres from the Housing Board Settlement and hardly at an aerial distance of 700 metres from the Sancoale Village. It is further the case of the Petitioners that the said terminal received oil for storage from the harbour through a 20 inches diameter pipeline to the terminal which is more than 14 kms and that said pipeline is not even one meter deeply rooted in the ground. It is further the contention of the Petitioners that the Respondent no. 7 has initially obtained the permission of the Fire Pump House in the year 2001 which was granted by the Respondent no. 6. It is also their contention that the High Powered Co-ordination Committee of the State of Goa granted permission for setting up an Oil Tanking Terminal in the Meeting held on 10.2.2001 and the Respondent no. 7 without obtaining any permission from any of the authorities, started the construction activity of the Oil Tanking Terminal. It is also the contention of the Petitioners that the Respondent no. 7 only obtained permission from the Pollution Control Board i.e. the Respondent no. 3 and no other permissions were obtained as required under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 and the other relevant Rules. It is also their case that the Respondent no. 7 has started constructing another four tanks in addition to the earlier eight tanks without the permission of the statutory authorities and, consequently, the above Petition came to be filed by the Petitioners for the aforesaid reliefs.