Tanneries Among Most Polluting Industries; Damaging Water Bodies: SC Issues Directions In Vellore River Pollution Case
The Court was hearing Civil Appeals against the Madras High Court's Order dismissing the Vellore District Environment Monitoring Committee's Writ Petition.
The Supreme Court has issued some directions in a case involving pollution due to tanneries damaging Palar River, Vellore District, Tamil Nadu.
The Court was hearing a batch of Civil Appeals preferred against the Common Order of the Madras High Court by which it dismissed the Writ Petition of Vellore District Environment Monitoring Committee and disposed of the latter Writ Petition filed by All India Skin and Hide Tanners and Merchants Association (AISHTMA).
The two-Judge Bench comprising Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan observed, “The overall analysis clearly demonstrates 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, has resulted in irreversible damage to the water bodies, groundwater, and agricultural lands. 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. In fact, it would not be wrong to say that the condition of tannery workers is no better than that of manual scavengers. With a majority of workers being women, the situation is even more distressing.”
The Bench remarked that nature and its elements are worshipped as Gods since time immemorial and our forefathers knew the importance of preserving the environment both for their own well- being and for the benefit of future generations.
Advocate Amit Gupta represented the Appellants while Senior Advocate T. Mohan represented the Respondents.
Facts of the Case
Vellore District is one of the oldest and largest Districts in Tamil Nadu lying on the banks of River Palar. Palar River is the source of drinking water for 30 towns and 50 villages along its banks and this river which was celebrated in literature, poetry, music, is now sullied by the operation of industries, especially, the tanning industry, which has been discharging effluents and dumping solid waste directly into the river and its channels, thereby making it unfit for drinking or agricultural purposes. Tanning industries which are the main source of income for the Vellore District, convert animal hides and skins into leather. Around 45% of the total tanneries in India are located in Tamil Nadu. More than 600 tanneries are situated in various clusters of Vaniyambadi, Ambur, Ranipet, Pernambut in the Vellore District. Though these industries have significant socio-economic impacts through employment and earnings, they have gained a negative image in society due to the pollution they generate.
Highlighting the pollution caused by untreated effluents discharged by tanneries and other industries in the State of Tamil Nadu into the River Palar, which is posing a great threat to the ecosystem and resulting in the non-availability of potable water in the area, a Non-Governmental Organization viz., Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum filed a Public Interest before the Apex Court, praying to issue a Writ of Mandamus, directing the Respondents therein viz., Union of India and the State of Tamil Nadu, to immediately pay adequate compensation to the victims of pollution and to those who lost their lives, food crops, vegetation, trees, agricultural land, wells and suffered severe hardship due to irresponsible and negligent act of polluting tanneries and recover the amount to be paid in compensation to the affected people from the polluting tanneries. The case was transferred and the High Court dismissed a Writ Petition filed by AISHTMA. Being dissatisfied, the Appellants approached the Apex Court.
Reasoning
The Supreme Court in view of the above facts, said, “… 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. India produces 13 percent of the world’s leather and the leather market in India is valued at approximately Rs.40,000 crores.”
The Court added that it will not be a mute spectator to the environmental consequences and the loss of life and health caused by the waste generated by tanneries. It further emphasised that there is an urgent need to strike a balance between competing interests, evolving and implementing sustainable solutions.
“Development which threatens the existence will serve no purpose. The sustainable development is an imminent requirement. The policies of the States and the actions must thrive towards striking a balance between socio-economic development and preservation of the natural resources for the benefit of the future generations”, it also said.
The Court noted that, while the advancement of industries and infrastructure is indispensable for fostering employment and generating revenue, such growth cannot come at the cost of irreparable ecological damage.
“… 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. … 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”, it observed.
Furthermore, the Court emphasised that the industries are liable to not only compensate but also bear the costs for restoring the river. It added that the idea of the Polluter Pays Principle, though seemingly progressive, must be carefully examined to ensure it does not result in the emergence of a "right to pollute" for those who are financially capable or willing to pay.
“… we also want to highlight the emerging concept of ecocide, which has gained significant attention in the environmental discourse. Ecocide is defined as 'unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment.' Acts such as the pollution of rivers with untreated sewage, illegal sand mining, large-scale deforestation etc. fall under this definition. The environmental damage occurring in Vellore District could even be categorized as ecocide, underscoring the urgency of addressing and halting such activities”, it also explained.
The Court said that, despite the responsibility of the municipalities to treat sewage, no effective steps have been taken and untreated sewage continues to be released directly into the river.
“It is disheartening to hear a worker describe the chemical pollution as “so powerful it can melt the dead - it’s only a matter of time before it begins to melt the living”, it remarked.
Directions
The Court, therefore, issued certain directions to the stakeholders of which some of the important ones are as follows –
• The State government is directed to pay the compensation amount to all the affected families / individuals, if not already paid, in terms of the awards dated 07.03.2001 and 24.08.2009 passed by the LoEA within six weeks from today,
• The State government in consultation with the Central Government, shall within a period of four weeks, constitute a committee, 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.
• The State shall ensure quarterly inspections of tanning industries in the district to assess compliance with environmental regulations and publish a report in its website disclosing all the material particulars.
• The State shall facilitate a conduct of environment audit of each river in the State, ascertain the pollution, degradation, change in storage capacity, depletion of groundwater level and publish the results in the website, newspapers, media, and other public platforms.
• The State shall mandate the installation of IoT-based sensors at discharge points, rivers, and groundwater wells to monitor water quality in real time.
• The State shall direct that AI systems shall be employed to analyze the data collected from IoT sensors and industry discharge reports, and any discrepancies from prescribed discharge limits shall be flagged for prompt regulatory response.
• The State Pollution Control Board / Central Pollution Control Board shall in co-ordination with State government, set emission standards for the tannery industry in alignment with international environmental standards and take into consideration the recommendations of national and international regulatory bodies. Additionally, assess the feasibility of imposing effluent charges, which would be levied per unit of waste or discharge released, as a penal measure to enforce compliance.
• The Central Government/Central Pollution Control Board shall issue appropriate directions to align the ESG and CSR of the industry/tannery towards voluntary disclosure and compliance of environmental norms.
• The CLRI, MoeF etc., shall invest more resources in training and promoting their eco-friendly technologies to ensure their wide adoption by the industries.
• The Central and State Governments shall take adequate measures and allocate funds to maintain a clean and healthy environment.
Accordingly, the Apex Court disposed of the Appeals.
Cause Title- Vellore District Environment Monitoring Committee v. The District Collector, Vellore District & Others (Neutral Citation: 2025 INSC 131)
Appearance:
Appellants: Advocates Amit Gupta, Kshitij Vaibhav, Muskan Nagpal, Arun Singh, Syed Ahmed Saud, Daanish Ahmed Syed, Mohd. Parvez Dabas, Revanta Solanki, Uzmi Jameel Husain, Aqib Baig, and Mohd. Shahib.
Respondents: Senior Advocate T. Mohan, AORs Gautam Narayan, Pradeep Misra, Advocates Asmita Singh, Tushar Nair, Anirudh Anand, and Punishk Handa, and Suraj Singh.
