New Delhi, Jan 5 (PTI) The National Green Tribunal has directed the Uttarakhand government to ensure that no untreated waste is discharged into the river Ganga or its tributary, and adequate arrangements are made for setting up requisite sewage treatment plants in the state.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said there has to be an awareness programme as well as a monitoring cell created at each municipal level to ensure that no untreated waste is discharged into the river Ganga.
“We direct the State of Uttarakhand to ensure that no untreated sewage/effluent is discharged into any drain or any other water body and adequate arrangements are made for setting up requisite sewage treatment plants,” the bench said.
“All the Ganga Bank towns and villages need to follow septage protocol as well as norms applicable to the flood protection zones. Evacuation from septic tanks must be linked to the pre-identified STPs,” it said.
The tribunal said treated effluents need to maintain standards with respect to fecal coliform and fecal streptococcus.
The chief secretary of Uttarakhand may look into this aspect and ensure compliance, it said.
The directions came while disposing of a plea filed by Vipin Nayyar against construction activities in the flood plain zone of the river Ganga.
The plea contended that the Rishikesh Municipal Corporation is constructing toilets on the flood plain zone illegally and discharging untreated waste therefrom in the Ganga.
No STP has been constructed to treat the waste, the plea said.
The tribunal directed that the arrangement in question should be interim and not treated as a precedent and shifted to appropriate location, where construction is legally allowed.
“Till alternative arrangement is made, septic tanks be regularly cleaned and maintained to ensure that no untreated sewage is discharged into the river or in the open,” the NGT said in a recent order. PTI PKS SNE
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