Report filed on behalf of Social Action for Forest and Environment (SAFE) Vs Union of India & Others dated 28/09/2020. The report was in response to the report of the Joint Committee May 29, 2020. SAFE had filed an appeal before the NGT against the Environmental Clearance granted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) on March 30, 2017 for the setting up of a coal fired non-mine mouth, Supercritical Thermal Power Plant (STPP) by THDC Ltd. in Khurja, Uttar Pradesh.

In compliance with the NGT order December 19, 2019 a report was filed by a Joint Committee. SAFE has stated that the approach of the Joint Committee in collection and preparation of report was very unscientific. The report by SAFE said that the Joint Committee failed to refer to Technical EIA Guidance Manual for thermal power plants in order to determine the ambient air quality levels. Further, data furnished by the Joint Committee on AAQ was not in terms of Schedule VII of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986.

The Joint Committee had not collected baseline attributes for assessing PM10 and PM2.5 in terms of the Guidance of Assessment of Baseline Components and Attributes given in Technical Guidance Manual for Thermal Power Plants prepared by MoEF&CC.