STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: A Division Bench (DB) of State High Court comprising Chief Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed and Justice Sanjeev Kumar on Friday granted final opportunity to the respondents to comply with the directions given by this Court on October 11, 2017 and to file their response in the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) highlighting degradation of environment due to the activities of brick kilns.
According to the order dated October 11, 2017, the court had directed District Officers of Pollution Control Board in Jammu and Srinagar Provinces to visit respective Brick Kilns falling within their jurisdiction and verify whether the consent of the Pollution Control Board has been taken in the manner-prescribed. “If on inspection, it is found that one or many Brick Kilns are running without the consent of the Pollution Control Board, the District Officers shall immediately inform the Deputy Commissioner/ District Magistrate/ District Environment Impact Assessment Authority to take action in accordance with law for closure of defaulter Brick Kilns”, the Court order stated.
In the PIL, it has been submitted that in order to address the environmental and hydrological concerns, the Secretary Union Ministry of Environment and Forests issued a notification dated September 14, 2006 providing for prior environment clearance before allowing mining activities for running the Brick Kilns. However, the owners of brick kilns have not responded to the notices issued to them by concerned authorities for compliance to the notification issued by Union Ministry as well as directions of Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal.