Supreme Court issues notice to Punjab, Centre on petitions against change in land use for cement factory near school, houses in Sangrur

Tribune News Service

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, May 5

The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Punjab government, the Centre, Shree Cement North Pvt Ltd and others on petitions challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s verdict dismissing pleas against Change of Land Use (CLU) granted by the Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion (PBIP) for establishing a cement factory in Rural Agriculture Zone of Sangrur.

A Bench led by Justice Vikram Nath asked the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Punjab government, Shree Cement North Pvt Ltd, PBIP, the Punjab Pollution Control Board, State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, Punjab, Chief Town Planner, Punjab, District Town Planner, Sangrur, and several other statutory and administrative authorities to respond to the petition filed by Vasant Valley Public School and farmers living in close proximity to the site of the proposed cement factory.

The Bench issued notices to the respondents last month after senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi submitted that if the cement factory came up on 47.82 acres of land, it would badly impact around 1,800 students of the school, the farmers and a police training centre situated nearby.

The top court posted the matter for May 7 as senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Siddharth Dave submitted on behalf of the respondents that they would not proceed with the project.

Petitioners Harbinder Singh Sekhon (91) and several other farmers -- whose lands and houses are in close proximity to the site of the proposed cement factory -- and Vasant Valley Public School submitted that the cement factory has been permitted to be established in violation of directions issued by the State Pollution Control Board which mandated that the minimum distance of red category cement industry must be at least 300 metres from residential areas and educational institutes. They said the authorities could not have allowed it in the Red category unit in the Rural Agriculture Zone of the Master Plan of Sangrur.

Challenging the February 29 verdict of the high court, they sought to highlight the fact that the high court dismissed their petition despite its own finding that the CLU dated December 13, 2021 granted by the PBIP to the project proponent for establishment of a cement factory was “lacking in any statutory backing” as on the date when CLU was issued.

The CLU regarding adjacent 53.04 acres of land of the same cement industry was rejected on February 8, 2022 on the grounds that it did not comply with the Master Plan of Sangrur, they said, adding, “…the site fell within residential, agricultural and ring road of master plan. Yet, although the same yardstick equally applied to the instant case, CLU has been surprisingly granted,” they submitted.

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