New Delhi: The Supreme Court, while observing that tanneries are among the most polluting industries and the damage caused by them by discharging untreated or partially treated effluents into the River Palar and surrounding areas in Tamil Nadu, has resulted in irreversible damage to the water bodies, groundwater, and agricultural lands, on Thursday (January 30, passed a slew of directions, including compensation compensation amount to all the affected families/individuals and to recover the compensation amount from the polluters and warned of action on non-compliance.
A bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan said that this environmental degradation has impoverished local farmers and has caused immense suffering to the local residents and the tannery workers, thereby endangering public health and life and in fact, it would not be wrong to say that the condition of tannery workers is no better than that of manual scavengers and with a majority of workers being women, the situation is even more distressing.
Livelihoods of people in Vellore district have been severely impacted by tanning industry: Apex Court
“The livelihoods of people in Vellore district, particularly farmers, inland fishermen, and rural communities, have been severely impacted by the tanning industry. Excessive sand mining along riverbanks, especially the River Palar, has caused ecological damage, including lowered groundwater levels, riverbank erosion, and loss of fertile land. Farmers face water scarcity, degraded soil quality, and declining agricultural income, with crop failures becoming common. The toxic contamination of soil and water has also led to increased public health concerns, including respiratory and skin disorders. Tanneries in the district, operational since 1914 are a major contributor to these problems,” the bench said.
Right to life inherently includes right to enjoy, pollution free environment: Apex Court
The bench further said that right to life inherently includes the right to enjoy, pollution free environment, which are essential for the full enjoyment of life and if anything endangers or impairs the quality of life in derogation of laws, a citizen has the right to have recourse to Article 32 of the Constitution to address the pollution of environment which may be detrimental to the quality of life.
“This court has recognised the concept of ‘right to healthy environment’ as part of the ‘right to life’ under Article 21 and thereby has also recognised the ‘right to clean drinking water’ as a fundamental right. In fact, environmental rights, which encompass a group of collective rights, are now described as “third generation” rights,” the bench said and added, “Therefore, the State, so as to sustain its claim of functioning for the welfare of its citizens, is bound to regulate water supply by safeguarding, maintaining and restoring the water bodies to protect the right to healthy water and prevent health hazards.”
Degradation of natural resources and pollutions of different kinds have a cascading effect on environment: Apex Court
The bench further said, “Nature and its elements are worshipped as Gods since time immemorial. Our forefathers knew the importance of preserving the environment both for their own well-being and for the benefit of future generations. However, over time, human greed has led us to forget this wisdom, treating nature as expendable at our expense and that of future generations. The degradation of the natural resources and pollutions of different kinds have a cascading effect on the environment, which now is a global issue and poses a threat to the very existence of our planet. Such degradation is the catalyst for the drastic climatic changes and challenges that we are facing now. The pollution and depletion of water resources, more particularly groundwater, is a foreseeable threat to all living beings.”
Apex Court passed a slew of directions
The bench directed the Tamil Nadu government to pay the compensation amount to all the affected families/individuals, if not already paid and directed the state government to recover the compensation amount from the polluters, if not already recovered, by initiating proceedings under the Revenue Recovery Act or through any other means permissible by law.
The apex court further directed the Tamil Nadu government in consultation with the Centre constitute a committee within four weeks, under the chairmanship of a retired high court judge and members, comprising of the Secretaries of both the state and central departments, environmental experts, representatives from the affected communities, and any other person as it deems fit, for the purpose of conducting an audit to identify, maintain and create a clean and healthy environment in Vellore district.
