Underscoring the “urgent” need for cleaning the Ganga, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has said the project to instal sewage treatment plants (STPs) at Haridwar should be brought forward by a year.
Compliance affidavit
A Bench, headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, said: “One of the projects to check the pollution of the Ganga is installation of STPs at Haridwar with enhanced capacity… According to the compliance affidavit, work is likely to be completed by February 2020. Having regard to significance and urgency, it will be appropriate that effort is made to advance commissioning of the project to June 2019.”
It also suggested an “online mechanism for display of water quality” at points where the drains entered the river.
The observations came while the Bench was hearing a petition on cleaning the river. In July, the NGT had came down heavily on the authorities saying effective steps had not been taken to clean the river. It also issued a series of directions.
On Thursday, the Bench directed that the functioning of the Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) be monitored to “ensure they maintain the prescribed standards”. Decentralised processing facilities should be provided at points closest to the source of solid waste generation, such as hotels, dharamshalas and ashrams, it said.
The Bench observed: “We find that there is a communication gap with regard to orders issued by this tribunal on various issues, having application to particular States. Even though orders are placed on the website, it may be appropriate that the Central Pollution Control Board compiles a gist of important directions periodically and conveys the same to the pollution control boards or committees concerned.”
The Bench said the Supreme Court had issued a series of directions on the matter, including showing of messages on environment at cinema halls, programmes on Doordarshan and the AIR, and compulsory courses on environment in schools, colleges and universities. “The directions... of the Supreme Court may be carried out, if it has not been done so far.”