Kamal Ghorui
Noida: National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday took suo motu cognisance of alleged water contamination in three states, including Uttar Pradesh, and sought replies from them as well as their pollution boards.The principal bench, comprising chairperson justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member Dr A Senthil Vel, issued notices to the authorities concerned in UP, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, including their respective pollution control boards and regional offices of the ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC), seeking a response on the ground situation and measures taken, if any. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) was also directed to file its response.
The matter was initiated based on two media reports. One of them was published in TOI on Jan 8, titled “Sewage in drinking water in Gr Noida, several fall ill”, while the other report was published in a Rajasthan-based Hindi daily on Jan 4.The reports about water contamination in UP, MP and Rajasthan came close on the heels of the Indore incident that led to the death of several people. “The matter will be examined to ensure accountability, compliance with environmental laws and protection of citizens’ right to safe drinking water,” the tribunal said.Registering a case as original application, the bench acknowledged that the media reports highlighted alarming conditions where sewage water could potentially contaminate drinking water and involved serious environmental and public health concerns, which prima facie indicated violations of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.The TOI report revealed that in Greater Noida (Sector Delta-1), several residents, including children, fell ill with symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhoea after sewage-contaminated drinking water was supplied to households. Though authorities repaired leaks and distributed medicines, residents expressed fear of an Indore-like water contamination tragedy. The same report also noted the detection of E Coli bacteria in drinking water in parts of Bhopal, caused by sewage leakage into tube-wells.A Hindi-language newspaper report pointed to instances of sewage water mixing with drinking water pipelines due to corroded and decades-old infrastructure. Cities in Rajasthan, including Udaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Banswara, Jaipur, Ajmer and Bora, were allegedly affected. The tribunal noted that photographs accompanying the reports showed drinking water pipelines passing through open sewage drains, creating grave health risks.NGT has been hearing almost half-a-dozen cases relating to sewage discharge and proper management of liquid waste in Delhi-NCR region, particularly Noida and Greater Noida region. It has already formed a joint committee to monitor open discharge of sewer in Greater Noida and sought response of Noida Authority towards restricting discharge of sewage into Kondli irrigation canal. In another matter, it has sought a report on the quality of drain water entering and exiting the sewage treatment plants in Noida to ensure that the treated water has fecal coliform and other chemical concentrations as per standard norms.
