A division bench of the Gujarat High Court directed the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) to prepare an action plan at the earliest in consultation with the state government regarding optimum functioning of sewage treatment plants (STPs).
It also sought to know from the Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner what the corporation intends to do to “overhaul and recharge all STPs” and ensure that these start functioning at their optimum level. Observing that every delay “proves to be dangerous”, the court directed the AMC and GPCB to continue with the drive to disconnect all illegal and unauthorized industrial connections to sewerage. It also asked both the bodies to “immediately comply with the suggestions given by the Joint Task Force”.
However, the court came down heavily on the GPCB, saying that it has a role to play in pushing the state towards health hazard by failing in its statutory duties. A division bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and VD Nanavati reprimanded the GPCB for its failure to discharge its statutory duties and termed it “fully responsible for bringing about such a dangerous situation”.
Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) are run and managed by private companies. “It is very unfortunate that GPCB never took note of the disappointing and utterly poor functioning of CETP. It was the statutory duty of the GPCB to act in due time, especially when it was realized that CETP was treating industrial effluents. Barely doing. It can be said that GPCB is just for name sake,” the order said.
The direction came after at least five industrial units moved the court seeking relief after their waste discharge connections were disconnected following their failure to adhere to the prescribed limits. AMC has disconnected a total of 303 illegal and unauthorized industrial connections, out of which 40 are out of 500 such connections identified by the civic body on Monday.
The court has also demanded the appearance of Advocate General Kamal Trivedi on behalf of the state and appealed for cooperation from Municipal Commissioner Mukesh Kumar and Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar.
The order, dated December 3 and which was made public on Monday, notes that when it comes to the functionality of 14 STPs managed by AMCs and seven CETPs operated and managed by private companies, all the parties accepted that out of these There are only 14 STPs. Three are functioning in a somewhat reasonable manner”, while out of seven CETPs, “only one is functioning in a somewhat reasonable manner”.
“The lawyers made an honest confession before this court that in all STPs the sewage is treated below 30 per cent of the optimum level and such untreated sewage is directly discharged into the Sabarmati river. Same is the case with industrial waste containing toxic substances like lead, mercury, chloride etc. Unfortunately, this polluted water of the Sabarmati river is being used for irrigation. What quality crops and vegetables can we expect if this water is high in toxic elements like lead, mercury etc and treated for irrigation purpose? It is literally poison that people are consuming,” said the bench worried.
It also did not shy away from inspecting the laxity of the AMC and sought an explanation as to why no action was taken till date against the defaulting companies. “We are informed that AMC has obtained bank guarantees from companies running CETPs. We wonder why these bank guarantees were not encashed due to non-functioning of CETPs. It asked the state government, GPCB and AMC to submit an action plan on “what is proposed to be done for repair and overhauling of all the seven CETPs”.
The court allowed seven CETPs to be parties to the trial and issued notices, which were returned on December 10. It sought a report from the GPCB on the steps taken to ensure that the seven CETPs were functioning as per rules and regulations. and at optimum levels.
Meanwhile, highlighting the continuing pollution of the Sabarmati river, amicus curiae Hemang Shah in his report submitted before the court that the authorities should give priority to curbing the pollution of the river, “instead of starting the Riverfront Phase-II expansion”. “. “The taxpayer’s money should be used to ensure setting up of STPs and CETPs,” he said.
Shah’s report also cited the setting up of a Rs 500-crore sports complex on the banks of the Sabarmati, which aims to host the Olympics in 2036 as well as in 2040 as part of a multi-city programme.
Taking cognizance of the report, the bench also agreed to the proposal and in its order said that the state government and the AMC should give priority to improving the health of the river instead of going for a mega project as the second phase. Sabarmati Riverfront. “If the government wants to go for this project, this court will never come in its way as it is a policy matter. However, if crores of rupees are to be spent on this new project, some amount should be earmarked or reserved for repair or overhauling of STP. We would like the Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner, in consultation with the State Government, to place before us a suitable action plan in this regard. This court will not condone any delay or laxity in the larger public interest.