Gurgaon: National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed a petitioner to submit documents pertaining to the rules governing the siting of polluting industries. In an order dated Oct 7, an NGT bench, headed by chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava, also issued notices to the respondents — Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEF) — after petitioner Dr Amit Kumar challenged the Centre’s decision to replace fixed minimum-distance criteria with site-specific conditions for granting pollution consents.The petition, filed under sections 14 and 15 of National Green Tribunal Act, has challenged notifications issued on Jan 23 and gazetted on Jan 27, under Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act. The notifications amended the Centre’s 2025 guidelines governing consent to establish and consent to operate for industrial units. In his petition, Kumar has argued that the changes dilute environmental safeguards and were introduced without adequate scientific studies, carrying-capacity assessments or stakeholder consultation.Under the earlier guidelines, industries had to maintain specified distances from water bodies and other sensitive locations. The 2026 amendments replaced these fixed distance criteria with conditions and safeguards based on site-specific circumstances. Now, NGT has sought a comparison of the old and new rules governing the siting of polluting industries. To that end, NGT has asked the applicant to place on record the changes introduced by two notifications issued by the environment ministry in Jan. The tribunal issued the notices to the respondents — CPCB and MoEF — on the applicant’s plea to condone the delay in filing the case. The matter will be heard next on Dec 15.Under the earlier guidelines, red-category industries were required to be more than 500 metres from the nearest boundary of a surface water body, floodplain or high flood level, while the prescribed distance for orange-category units was more than 75 metres if they generated effluent and more than 30 metres if they did not. Green-category units had to maintain a distance of more than 30 metres.Separate distance criteria applied to settlements, educational institutions, places of worship, archaeological monuments, national parks, reserve forests and heritage sites. The earlier guidelines also stipulated that natural or stormwater drains passing through industrial sites should not be disturbed.Under the 2026 amendments, for units requiring environmental clearance, the relevant expert appraisal committee would prescribe conditions; for other units, the state pollution control board would do so.Kumar has alleged that the amendments violate environmental principles, including the precautionary principle, and sought restoration of the earlier distance norms and protections for natural drains. The petition also challenges provisions concerning deemed consent to establish for micro and small enterprises in notified industrial estates, the role of registered private environmental auditors and the validity of consent to operate.Under the amended framework, consent to operate can remain valid until cancelled, replacing the earlier fixed validity periods for different categories of industries. The applicant has also sought periodic compliance audits and a review of certain consents granted under the new provisions. The Centre has described the amendments as an effort to streamline the consent process and replace rigid distance requirements with site-specific environmental assessment, while retaining safeguards against non-compliance.
