SC orders action against tanneries polluting Palar river

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a series of stringent directives to address the severe environmental degradation caused by tannery industries in Tamil Nadu's Vellore district, ordering that the state must recover from industries responsible for discharging untreated effluents into the Palar river the cost of ecological restoration and compensation for affected communities.

- Utkarsh Anand

roaming around government offices for certificates and other services."

He said 36 departments would be connected to WhatsApp governance. The government would take the responsibility of providing certificates in real time. "When certificates are provided, there will be a special QR code on them. If you scan that QR code, the link will go to the AP government website. With this, there will be no room for fake certificates," he said.

He added the government would correct the shortcomings, if any, and make it foolproof.

Meta India vice president and head Sandhya Devanathan said: "We created WhatsApp governance to make it easy for people to use. We have worked hard for making it a reality. We will make Mana Mitra even better together with the AP government."

WhatsApp director and India head Ravi Garg said: "People could easily access civic services by typing 'Hi' and proceed with the requirement in the department they needed. Currently 161 types of services are being made available."

NEW DELHI:

A bench comprising justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan described the environmental damage as "irreversible", highlighting the catastrophic impact on water bodies, groundwater and agricultural lands, which has led to economic hardship for farmers and posed significant public health risks.

It added that the extensive damage caused to the environment in Vellore could be categorised as "ecocide" - 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.

Underscoring the "polluter pays" principle, the court's directions include compensation for affected families, recovery of damages from polluting industries and the creation of an expert panel to assess and mitigate the damage.