Green Tribunal cracks the whip to prevent ecological damage to Western Ghats in TN
Chennai (PTI): The National Green Tribunal, Southern Zone (NGT-SZ), has directed the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to pass appropriate orders in a matter related to unauthorized brick kilns exploiting the Western Ghats region, which is leading to ecological damage.
On its own, the Tribunal had initiated action on the issue.
Since there was no provision to regulate the activities of such units and to prevent ecological damage, the NGT-SZ had taken cognizance based on a Tamil daily's reportage on April 14, 2021. Subsequently, proceedings were initiated by the TNPCB as well as the mining authorities.
Following a hearing on the matter, in its order on Tuesday, the Tribunal referred to the Board's report on determination of compensation.
Environmental compensation was fixed for the brick kiln units in five specific villages as per a Central Pollution Control Board formula. It was to recover compensation for the damages caused to the environment by the brick kiln units under the "polluter pays" principle.
All the 185 brick kiln units (Coimbatore/western region) were issued show cause notice and the compensation payable by them. Each of the individual unit is called upon to pay the compensation amount of Rs 32 lakh approximately.
The counsel appearing for the brick manufacturers’ association stated that, barring two of the owners, the rest of them had been served notices and they were in the process of filing replies.
Brick kiln units were operating without taking necessary permission from appropriate authorities. "When mining without appropriate approvals from the authorities, these units took advantage of the same. Now, when the authorities are imposing environmental compensation and penalty under the Minor Mineral Rules, they cannot object to the same," the order said.
Judicial member Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and expert member Satyagopal said that, on receipt of replies to show cause notice, the individual units are "directed to appear before the Board and submit what all are their objections and the Pollution Control Board is directed to pass appropriate order."
The Board was directed to complete proceedings by conducting an enquiry after affording an opportunity of personal hearing to the individuals and then pass necessary orders within a period of six weeks. The NGT-SZ posted the matter for further hearing on November 1, 2022.
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Over 17,000 people went missing in Delhi in 2024: NCRB
New Delhi (PTI): A total of 23,058 people, comprising 9,482 men and 13,576 women, were reported missing in Delhi in 2024, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Of the total, 5,491 were children below the age of 18 — 1,571 boys, 3,920 girls.
The city recorded 17,567 fresh adult missing persons cases in 2024, comprising 7,911 men and 9,656 women.
According to the NCRB data, released on Wednesday, 14,637 men, 18,238 women and six transgender persons were still missing from previous years.
At the latest count, in 2024, Delhi had a total of 55,939 missing persons cases — 24,119 men, 31,814 women and six transgender persons.
In 2024, police traced or collected 28,392 missing persons, including 12,182 men, 16,208 women and two transgender persons.
Only half of the men and half of the women who went missing could be traced.
A total of 27,547 missing persons – 11,937 men, 15,606 women, four transgender persons — were yet to be untraced by the end of the year, the data showed.
The data also revealed that 5,352 children from previous years remained untraced at the beginning of 2024.
The number of still missing boys was 1,621, and the number of missing girls was 3,729. Two transgender children were yet to be found.
After adding the pending cases from previous years, the total number of missing children cases handled in 2024 rose to 10,843.
The police traced or recovered 6,762 missing children — 2,030 boys, 4,732 girls.
The recovery rate stood at 63.6 per cent for boys and 61.9 per cent for girls, while no transgender child was traced.
By the end of 2024, a total of 4,081 children remained untraced, 1,162 of them boys, 2,917 girls, and two transgender children.
