Bypass for filth
The common effluent treatment plants (CETPs), set to deal with industrial effluents, have two problems: they are overloaded and incapable of dealing with the toxins in the effluents. Most CEPTs in Gujarat work like the one in Vapi. Untreated effluents simply bypass the plant and reach the Daman Ganga river. C Sengappa, chief executive officer of the CETP at Vapi, says that the CETP was commissioned in January 1997 and has a capacity to handle 55,000 cubic metres of effluents per day. There are 625 members of the CETP of the 1,400 industrial units in Vapi. But the CPCB found that the design parameters of the CETP were wrong. So, whenever effluents reach the inlet with higher concentration or quantity, the officials are forced to let the effluents into the Daman Ganga without any treatment.
"This is a crime. We have heard of fish kills on several occasions. The release of untreated effluents in the river is one of the reasons,' says Michael Mazgaonkar of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, a non-governmental organisation working to conserve the environment. According to a study conducted by the environmental group Greenpeace, the effluents released by the CETP are heavily contaminated with organochlorine compounds and chlorinated benzenamines. It also contains high levels of cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel and zinc. The pollutants indicate that the CETP is ineffective in removing a wide range of toxic, persistent and bio-accumulative compounds, the study points out.
Even after the CPCB reviewed the working of the plant and suggested changes, the CETP was not functioning properly. It is currently being upgraded. A PCB official says that the CETP will work only if all the industrial units cooperate and discharge the effluents as per the inlet parameters. Units can send their effluents to the plant only after primary treatment. Only then can the CETP treat the effluents. The official points out that most units do not observe this rule.