Bhopal: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday took note of the steps being undertaken pursuant to the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s proceedings in the Indore water contamination case and sought responses on measures relating to drinking water supply and quality.
The order followed the Bhagirathpura drinking water contamination tragedy, which claimed 22 lives and left hundreds ill in December last year.
The Bhopal-based Central Zone bench, comprising Judicial Member Justice Sheo Kumar Singh and Expert Member Sudhir Kumar Chaturvedi, passed the order while hearing two applications raising concerns over water supply and contamination in Indore and other parts of Madhya Pradesh, an NGT statement informed.
Issues relating to drinking water supply in Indore are pending before the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in writ petitions, it said.
The NGT also took note of the High Court’s decision to constitute a judicial commission to identify officials prima facie responsible for the Bhagirathpura water contamination incident.
The NGT noted the High Court’s directions for ensuring safe drinking water supply, including regular water quality monitoring and testing, maintaining adequate chlorine levels, replacing old and damaged pipelines, cleaning and disinfecting water storage facilities, identifying leakages and sewage contamination points, strengthening sewerage infrastructure and fixing accountability for lapses in the operation and maintenance of water supply systems.
The tribunal observed that these issues were being examined by the judicial commission constituted by the High Court and that the matter was sub judice before it.
During the hearing, counsel for the applicants submitted that while the High Court was examining issues specific to Indore, the applications before the tribunal raised broader concerns relating to drinking water supply and contamination across Madhya Pradesh.
The counsel for the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (MPPCB) informed the tribunal that its report had already been filed.
The NGT directed that a copy of the report be supplied to the opposite parties through email, and permitted them to file their responses, if any, within three weeks.
The matter has been posted for further hearing on September 16.
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