Muktsar, June 26: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has demanded responses from central and state pollution control authorities and environment officials over a deadly explosion in an illegal firecracker unit in Punjab’s Muktsar district that killed five people and injured 29 others.
Acting on its own initiative, the tribunal took suo motu cognisance of media reports concerning the May 30 blast at Singhewala village. In its June 5 order, a bench comprising Judicial Member Arun Kumar Tyagi and Expert Member A Senthil Vel raised serious concerns over the alleged procurement and handling of explosive materials at the unauthorised facility.
“According to the news item, it is alleged that the factory operator managed to buy a huge volume of explosives and other material used in producing firecrackers without permission, and that even after 10 hours of the explosion, the smell of potash emanated from the debris,” the bench observed.
The NGT underscored that the incident triggered multiple legal frameworks, including the Environment (Protection) Act, the Public Liability Insurance Act, Explosives Act, Explosive Substances Act, Explosives Rules, and the rules governing hazardous chemicals and emergency response to chemical accidents.
Among the respondents named in the case are the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Punjab State Pollution Control Board, the Chandigarh regional office of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and the deputy commissioner of the district.
“Let a notice be issued to the respondents for filing their response/reply,” the tribunal directed, while scheduling the next hearing for August 4.
