Indian Railways faces this big action, has to pay Rs 2 lakh penalty

The National Green Tribunal on Wednesday slapped a fine of Rs 2 lakh on the Indian Railways for failing to submit information about the capacity of the Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Tughlakabad where a chemical spill had occurred in 2017. Even after the passage of over a year since the incident that had caused a gas leak, a bench headed by acting Chairperson Justice Jawad Rahim observed that the Railways has not yet given the information and complied with its order. Around 480 girl students of the Rani Jhansi School and Government Girls Senior Secondary School, located near the container depot in south Delhi, were hospitalised on May 6, 2017, after toxic fumes spread in the surrounding areas due to the leakage, reported PTI. Most students, who had complained of irritation in the eyes and breathlessness, were discharged after a few hours but a few had to be kept under observation for a longer time.

NGT slapped the fine after advocate Om Prakash,  appearing for the PSU behemoth said that the Northern Railways has received comments from the Container Corporation yesterday and sought a week's time to submit the report, which the tribunal refused.

A similar matter was pending in Delhi High Court and a probe was being conducted by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, informed Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand to the bench.

"We have taken note of High Court observation but its jurisdiction has no bearing on the jurisdiction of tribunal pertaining to environmental issues," said NGT.

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“Though we permit the filing of the final report of SDM, we intend to proceed independently from the point of view of the environment in the wake of likely threat of recurrence of the event, transportation of hazardous material and potential of such incidents,” NGT added.