New Delhi:

The National Green Tribunal has been informed that according to an Uttarakhand government’s report on pollution in Ganga, even the “originating point” of the pious river is polluted by sewage treatment plant (STP) discharge.

The submission was made during the proceedings about the prevention and control of pollution in Ganga in Uttarakhand. The tribunal had earlier sought a report from the state and others.

A bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava noted the submissions of the advocate of one of the intervening applicants, who referring to the state’s report, pointed out that a faecal coliform having the most probable number (MPN) of 540/100 ml was found in the sample collected from the 1 million litres per day (MLD) capacity sewage treatment plant (STP) at Gangotri.

Faecal coliform (FC) levels show pollution from the microbes from the excreta of humans and animals. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) water quality criteria, an MPN of less than 500/100 ml is desirable for “organised outdoor bathing”.

In the order passed on November 5, the NGT bench also comprising judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and expert member A Senthil Vel noted, “She (the advocate) has submitted that even the originating point of the pious river Ganga is polluted by the STP discharge.” The tribunal also noted CPCB’s report about the compliance of norms and functionality of the STPs and said that out of 53 commissioned STPs, only 50 were functional and 48 were not complying with the norms, including FC levels, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) removal efficiency range and utilisation capacity.

Comparing the state’s report with the CPCB report, it said, “We find that disclosures which have been made by the state of Uttarakhand in his latest report are doubtful.” “Thus, we require the Chief Secretary to duly look into the matter and ensure that a proper status report with due compliance is filed,” it added.

The tribunal also noted deficiencies in the state’s report about the STPs.

It said, “Many of the STPs are either underutilised (Dehradun, Uttarkashi, Pauri, Chamoli) or receiving the excess quantity of sewage against their designed capacity (Haridwar, Tehri) and there is no mention of inundation of STPs during flooding/backflow.” Regarding the status of drains in the states, the tribunal noted that 63 untapped drains were directly discharging untreated sewage into the Ganga and its tributaries.

“We also find that in towns of Kashipur, Bazpur and Kitchha of district Udham Singh Nagar, all the drains are untapped,” it said.

“The next report of the state needs to clarify action to be taken in a time-bound manner to ensure that no sewage carrying (BOD) load and FC joins Ganga or its tributaries,” the tribunal added.

The matter has been posted for further proceedings on February 13. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to Jindal Steel and Power Limited in connection with the death of a worker after hot or molten slag allegedly fell on him at the company’s steel plant in Patrapali village in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh.

The NGT was hearing an application registered on the basis of a news report published by PTI on August 22 regarding the worker’s death.

The application raised an apprehension of non-compliance with environmental laws in the process of disposal of slag, a byproduct of steel manufacturing.

In an order passed on Thursday, a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava said the Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board had filed a reply without touching the aspect of handling slag, which was the cause of the accident in the present case.

“In this context, the guidelines prepared by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to deal with the handling and management of slag generated from pyro-metallurgical operations in iron and steel industries need to be referred,” the bench, also comprising judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and expert member A Senthil Vel, said.

“Hence, at this stage, we deem it proper to issue notice. The registry of the tribunal is directed to serve the project proponent i.e, Jindal Steel and Power Limited, Patrapali village, Raigarh,” it added.

The principal bench of the green panel said as the matter pertained to the Central Zone bench of the tribunal in Bhopal, it was being transferred for “appropriate further action”.

According to police, payload operator Chini Lal Patel died on August 22 due to serious burns after molten slag from the furnace fell on him.