Order of the National Green Tribunal regarding rejuvenation of river Yamuna, 27/01/2021
Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Manoj Mishra Vs Union of India & Others dated 27/01/2021.
The issue under consideration was reviewing the status of compliance of directions of the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for rejuvenation of river Yamuna.
The Yamuna Monitoring Committee (YMC) in its 5th report, December 7, 2020 observed that the quality of the river remained abysmally bad in terms of BOD and DO levels. The YMC recommended that the NGT should consider issuing directions to MoJS/NMCG to accept and notify E- flow recommended by the NIH - this would set a benchmark/platform on which policy decisions could be taken.
With respect to managing the quality of river water, the YMC recommended that all the product manufacturers of soap and detergents be directed to disclose the ingredients present in the product and display the same on the package. This would be effective only if the Ministry of Consumer Affairs under whom the BIS functions are directed to bring out a policy and notify not just standards but a mandatory requirement to declare the ingredients along with their proportion.
The Committee had noted a huge gap in generation and treatment of sewage. The Committee has recommended that all the drains in which untreated sewage was being discharged should be intercepted and diverted so that the untreated sewage was not conveyed to the river. Such gaps need to be bridged in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana also. The IDMC and DJB have to ensure this for Delhi.
The NGT noted that it was clear from the report of the YMC that the major problem of preventing pollution by discharge of sewage, industrial effluents and other pollutants remained unaddressed. The NGT directed that the Chief Secretary, NCT of Delhi, in coordination with other authorities (such as, Additional Chief Secretary Urban Development, DDA, IDMC, DPCC, DJB) and the Chief Secretaries of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh should "personally monitor the progress, by evolving effective administrative mechanism to handle grim situation caused by years of neglect".