NGT imposes Rs 1cr fine on Barmer plant for pollution

Jaipur: National Green Tribunal (NGT) on October 4 ordered the Water Pollution and Research Foundation at Balotra in Barmer district to deposit Rs1 crore with the Rajasthan Pollution Control Board; the Jasol treatment plant has been ordered to deposit Rs50 lakh. This order comes in the course of hearings on the discharge of polluted water from cloth dyeing units in the area into River Luni, causing what is widely regarded as irreversible damage.

Petitioner and lawyer Digvijay Singh, who has been arguing this case himself, has held that this is a matter on which action must be taken with urgency, to "prevent further environmental degradation and damage to human life, flora and fauna".

Under earlier orders of the court, plants have been erected to treat polluted water from cloth dyeing units in the area. However, the High Rate Transpiration Plants (HRTPs), which force the polluted water out in vigorous jets to force evaporation, are not effective in dealing with the scale of the problem. The Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETP) meant to cater to the different units in the area lie idle for long spells, leading to unchecked discharge of effluent into the Luni, a seasonal river which runs dry in the height of summer. Its ability to replenish itself after this heavy dose of chemical effluents is thus severely limited.

This reporter visited the area last summer and personally witnessed the change in the colour of soil near the river - the soil here is a dark green, and the inspector from the Central Pollution Control Board remarked that there was no need for elaborate testing to see that the area was highly polluted. The water also gave off a stench that spread to quite a distance from the effluent treatment unit.

Standing crops in the vicinity have been destroyed. The NGT order mentions that the respondents have begun to compensate affected farmers - two farmers have even acknowledged having received Rs1 lakh each. "Though we appreciate the voluntary remedial action taken by the respondent number 5 and 6, but in view of the fact brought on record that there are frequent instances of breach in the HRTC facilities walls and consequent damage to the crops and flow of treated effluent into the Luni, appropriate punitive action is necessary in future as well," the order states.

The court has ordered that water transported to the Reverse Osmosis (RO) purification plant should be done through closed pipes, and not through an open system as at present.

On February 17 this year, the Rajasthan HC ordered that the water from the treatment plants should go into horticulture plantations and not back into the Luni. That was one of the conditions imposed while granting consent for the operation of the treatment facility at Balotra. NGT observed that this order of the HC is not being complied with. The release of effluent to the HRTS facility at Balotra, NGT observed, is being done in an "indiscriminate and unscientific manner".

The district collector too has reported to the court that there are breaches in the walls of the HRTS facility, leading to leakage of water into the open. The latest such breach occurred on October 3. The NGT has ordered that the wall be strengthened and the whole 276 bighas of the two plants be properly concretized at the bottom to prevent percolation and pollution of ground water.

Central and state pollution control boards have been instructed to conduct inspections every three months and report back to the NGT. The matter will come up for hearing next on October 31.