Oversight Committee report on action taken on the contamination of waterbodies and groundwater, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, 21/06/2021
Updated report of the Oversight Committee, National Green Tribunal, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh in the matter of Original Application No. 116/2014 (Meera Shukla Vs Municipal Corporation, Gorakhpur & Others) dated 21/06/2021.
The matter related to remedial action on the contamination of water bodies and groundwater, specially Ramgarh lake, Ami river, Rapti river and Rohini river in and around district Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.
The report stated that work for the STP at Maghar and Khalilabad has not yet started, even though DPR has been sent to the Executive Director, NMCG. With regard to CETP in Gorakhpur, Dr. Kajmi, Professor, IIT Roorkee along with GIDA officials visited the site, April 1 2021 and recommended for a 7.5 MLD capacity of CETP and said that a team from his institute would visit the site for collection and quality testing of industrial sewage, which is awaited. Till now, no public notice boards have been displayed notifying prohibited activities around the wetland area.
From the compliance report filed by the UPPCB, it was seen that recovery of EC from polluting industries has been minimal. Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation has so far not started work on landfill site/processing plant. There are a total 24 drains falling in Ramgarh Taal. Out of which 06 are major drains and 18 are minor drains. The latest compliance status show that all 06 major drains have been tapped while tapping of 18 minor drains is ongoing.
These were some of the main highlights of the Oversight Committee report, under the Chairmanship of S V S Rathore submitted to the NGT, June 21, 2021.