The document discusses pollution in the Ganges river from the Simbhaoli Sugars factory. It summarizes a 2010 report of the river being black, stinking, and toxic near the factory. In 2014, the National Green Tribunal fined Simbhaoli Sugars 5 crore rupees for polluting the Ganges. However, 5 crore rupees is not a large sum for Simbhaoli Sugars. The document questions how a "persistent defaulter" like Simbhaoli Sugars was given consent orders by pollution control boards and whether statutory authorities are serious about controlling environmental degradation. It concludes by discussing the impact of pollution on endangered Ganges river dolphins that have lived in the river

1. November 16-30, 2014 47BUSINESS ECONOMICS46 November 16-30, 2014 BUSINESS ECONOMICS
— The writer is a chemical engineer from Jadavpur
University & an environmentalist
villagers of Puth describe the Ganga’s water. ... “The colour ...
is black and it stinks ... Several large fish died last week. And
four of our buffaloes were killed after they drank its water
recently,” Puth villager Raju said. “The stretch [of the Ganges,
from Bijnor to Narora] was the first to be declared a Ramsar
Site in 2005, having rich species of freshwater dolphins (Ganges
dolphins) and crocodiles ...”. It was July 2010 and Kirshan Kant
Singh and his Social Action for Forest & Environment (SAFE)
moved to the green Tribunal on 2013 with application number
299. An interim order was issued on May 31 this year. What
we can summarize from this is that nothing changed in between
2010 and 2014. What were governments and their PCB wings
doing all this time?
In the interim order we find: “Both the Pollution Control Boards
(CPCB and UPPCB) in their replies pleaded that the Respondent
no 7 industry is a polluting industry and is a persistent defaulter
and violated the various directions issued from time to time.”
GREEN WORLD GREEN WORLD
Bitter Bites: the Simbhaoli
Sugars Verdict
Simbhaoli Sugars is one of our oldest, biggest and renowned
sugar manufacturers. They sell sugar with the brand name
“Trust”. Just days before Dhanteras we got an unpleasant report
– Simbhaoli was fined ` 5 crore by National Green Tribunal
for polluting the Ganges. ` 5 crore is not a large sum for
Simbhaoli. Last week, in most markets sugar was near ` 3000/ton.
So, 17,000 tonnes of sugar will do. Or with 2-3 average days’
sales proceeds, the Simbhaoli Sugars group can collect that
money.
As Dussehra proverbs go, we could say “Evil shall not prevail”,
“Anyay ka ant nyay ka uday” is accomplished, “the guilty is
punished”, and there ends the story. But can we simply wash
our hands of the matter? We cannot, because, many of us are
connected with the whole affair somehow, directly or indirectly.
The court proceedings reminded us of a 2010 account written
by Akash Vashishtha in Mail Today. To quote from the splendid
reporting by Akash: “Black, stinking and toxic - that’s the way
Can we simply wash our hands of the matter
But we also find the industry’s pleas: “The Respondent-7 follows
all the terms and conditions of the consent order issued by the
PCB for the year 2012 and 2013, both for Effluent Treatment
Plant (ETP) as well as Air Pollution Control Devices.” How
did a persistent defaulter get the consent orders whatever be
“conditions” therein? Besides, do the CPCB and UPPCB have
no power whatsoever to stop a ‘persistent defaulter’? How can
a country that is aspiring to be a world industrial powerhouse
can function with such weak and miserable environmental
wings! Or do our statutory authorities like PCBs lack enforcement
power? People may wonder whether the government is serious
at all in monitoring, controlling and abating environmental
degradation and disasters.
It begets another question: will
we have to depend on PILs by
some citizen activists or NGOs
to defend our rights to fresh
air and clean water? As this is
the season for Diwali and all
sorts of crackers, we may
remember the sound pollution
limits and orders were based
on some famous judgements.
If we look at those from this
angle, we may ask ourselves:
are we dependent on “judicial
activism” for protecting us
from some polluting
‘demons’? And some IAS
officers like Durga Nagpal
who tried to fight valiantly
against sand-mafias to save
land from erosion? If the case
is so, that we are to depend on
some activists, top-notch
officers and judges to keep us
and our environment safe, is
it not a misfortune for a
democracy?
What the ISO, the International
Standard Organisation people
might be thinking now!
Simbhaoli Sugars have ISO
9001 and ISO 14001 certifications. ISO 14001 is related to
Environmental Management Systems and an ISO 14001 certified
company may boast of having a sound environmental practice.
Surely Simbhaoli had regular internal environmental audits and
also external or third party audits and invigilation. If such a
company is found as a ‘persistent defaulter’ by the judges at
the National Green Tribunal, then the ISO 14001 tag surely lose
some sheen in public eyes, isn’t it? Whom the board members
of any company will rely on if not the in-house environmental
department and the auditors! According to EMS, persons
responsible for specified activities are all documented. What
penalty did those person(s) responsible get?
The business community has yet another bitter pill. They
know how their organizations, the business chambers, help new
entrepreneurs, including guiding them in getting ISO
accreditations. Some chambers do a lot more by providing
training and other services. A site visit report is in the
public domain: FICCI -M2M Project Facilitating Mechanisms
for Advancing Methane Recovery and Use Projects in
India; Assistance Agreement Number: XA-83367101-0.
There we see that a team commissioned by FICCI visited the
Simbhaoli site in December 2009. In that report there is absolutely
no talk regarding unsatis-
factory operation of waste
treatment units, rather we find
appreciation.
If everything was satisfactory
in December 2009, how did
Akash find an opposite picture
in July 2010? Was it a sudden
development? FICCI may talk
with the WWF; they have a
station at Narora because of
their concern with endangered
species like the Gangetic
Dolphins. WWF, or rather the
Gangetic dolphins have been
facing the industrial pollution
problem for a long time. It
is not that the picture
suddenly became murky in
2010. This is not a flimsy issue,
professional integrity and
reputation may be questioned.
Lastly, for us who were
relieved by this verdict: let us
conjecture how we can
‘valorize’ a Gangetic Dolphin
or any other creature. How we
can measure the ‘loss’ if we
lose this endangered species?
Can everything be monetized?
Secondly, those fellows
(Dolphins are very intelligent and they are mammals like us,
so we may call them fellows) are dwellers of the Ganges from
a time much before the arrival of man. They might be called
sons of the soil, or, maybe, daughters and sons of the Ganga.
How do we have the right to pollute their home by our wastes?
Stern admonition and ` 5 crore fine cannot settle all these
disquieting questions.
Children are conducting a boat campaign for the Dolphins on the
Ganges, Narora to Bijnor. Picture courtesy: Saviours
(http://lovepoemscycle.com/)
WWF, or rather the Gangetic dolphins
have been facing the industrial pollution
problem for a long time. It is not that the
picture suddenly became murky in 2010.
This is not a flimsy issue, professional
integrity and reputation may be questioned.
The Ganges river dolphin can
only live in fresh water and is
essentially blind. They hunt by
emitting ultrasonic sounds,
which bounces off of fish and
other prey, enabling them to
“see” an image in their mind.
- WWF
Interested to help them survive?
Visit
http://www.worldwildlife.org/
species/ganges-river-dolphin
Our Blind Dolphins - in a deaf system and
our inept hands - they are Endangered.
Pic. courtesy : SNDRP
n Sandeep Banerjee