Summary
The Supreme Court set aside the National Green Tribunal's order closing a municipal organic-waste segregation plant at Baner, Pune. The plot had been reserved for a garbage processing plant since 2002, before the nearby buildings came up; the plant's authorisation, clearance and commencement all preceded the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, so the 2000 Rules governed it; the MPCB then issued only composite authorisations, not separate consents; and the 500-metre buffer applied only to landfills. The Court issued directions to control odour.
Issues
- Whether a garbage processing plant whose authorisation, environmental clearance and commencement preceded 08.04.2016 was governed by the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 or the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000.
- Whether the plant was illegal for want of consent under the Water Act and Air Act when the MPCB was then granting only composite authorisations.
- Whether a 500-metre buffer or no-development zone applied to a waste processing plant as distinct from a landfill site.
- Whether the Tribunal rightly ordered closure and use of the plot for a bio-diversity park.
Provisions considered
- Preamble (supersession saving clause), Rule 1(2) and Rule 22, Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016The Rules supersede the 2000 Rules except as respects things done or omitted before supersession; since the application for authorisation, its grant, the environmental clearance and the start of the project all preceded 08.04.2016, the plant was not governed by the 2016 Rules and the Tribunal's finding of violation of Rule 20 could not stand. (¶¶ 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34)
- Rule 15(q) and (v), Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016These clauses prefer on-site and decentralised processing of biodegradable waste to minimise transport and environmental impact, which the Court found the plant's model served. (¶¶ 43, 44)
- Rules 4(2), 6 and 7(2) and the Schedules, Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000Authorisation was sought and granted under these Rules in 2015; the Schedules treat landfill sites separately from composting and processing facilities, and the no-development buffer zone in the landfill Schedule does not extend to processing plants, which are instead subject to standards for odour, leachate and rejects. (¶¶ 29, 39, 40)
- Section 28(4), Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966The plot was shown as reserved for a garbage processing plant in the 2002 land use map and in the Draft Development Plan published under this provision and sanctioned in 2008, with the adjoining plots, not this one, reserved for a bio-diversity park. (¶¶ 26, 41)
Held
- The plot had been reserved for a garbage processing plant since 2002, and the commencement certificates for all the nearby residential buildings were issued after the reservation; the Tribunal's finding that the plot was originally reserved for a bio-diversity park was factually wrong, that reservation being for the adjoining plot. (¶¶ 26, 41)
- 'Things done' in a saving clause covers both the acts done and their legal consequences; as everything relating to the plant's authorisation, clearance and commencement occurred before 08.04.2016, the 2000 Rules and not the 2016 Rules governed it. (¶¶ 31, 32, 33, 34)
- Until its circular of 06.09.2021 the MPCB did not grant separate consents for solid waste facilities but issued composite authorisations to set up and operate; consent to operate was obtained in 2022 and renewed, so the Tribunal erred in holding the plant illegal for want of consent. (¶¶ 35, 36, 37, 38)
- The no-development or buffer zone under the MPCB checklist and the 2000 Rules relates only to landfill sites and does not apply to a waste processing plant. (¶¶ 39, 40)
- Closing the plant would harm the public interest by forcing organic waste from western Pune to be carried across the city; the residents' stance that such a facility may be sited anywhere but near them reflected the 'not in my back yard' approach the Court declined to countenance. (¶¶ 42, 44, 45, 46)
- To protect nearby residents, the Corporation and the operator were directed to comply strictly with NEERI's recommendations, install portable compactors and a shed over the reject area by 31.12.2024, build a bitumen road and concrete the reject area, plant dense green cover on three sides, and comply with six-monthly NEERI environmental audits; the State was asked to consider Miyawaki forests in the bio-diversity park. (¶¶ 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
Result
Appeals allowed; the Tribunal's orders of 27.10.2020 and 22.12.2020 set aside and OA No. 210 of 2020 dismissed, subject to directions for odour control, infrastructure works, green cover and six-monthly NEERI audits.