The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) and the Kochi Corporation to submit an updated status report on the upkeep and maintenance of the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium at Kaloor before December 16.
The directive was given on a case related to the pollution caused by the discharge of sewage generated from the stadium and commercial establishments into the nearby drains in view of the poor functioning of the sewage treatment plant.
The Bench comprising Justice K. Ramakrishnan and expert member Saibal Dasgupta had entrusted a joint committee to submit a report on the samples taken from the inlet and outlet of the plant to check its efficiency. It had also asked for a report on the collection and disposal of waste generated when the stadium and its premises were given for conducting various events.
The joint committee informed the tribunal that the plant was operational. But the quantity of effluent reaching the plant was considerably low, which was about 20-25 KLD only against the designed capacity of 750 KLD. The efficiency of the plant needed to be ascertained when tournaments or large meetings were held in the stadium, it said.
The committee had recommended the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) that it could ask those using the stadium ground and its premises for various events to utilise the plant for waste disposal. It had also asked the corporation to submit an action plan to avoid discharge of such waste into stormwater drains in several areas.
The tribunal pointed out that the corporation had not filed any further status report on the steps being taken to mitigate the situation. The only question to be considered was the ‘precautionary principle’ that had been applied for proper management of the stadium, which was being used for several public functions apart from games and it was likely to generate waste and sewage. The Bench had pointed out certain drawbacks earlier. But it was not known how far these drawbacks had been rectified, it said.