Order of the National Green Tribunal regarding discharge of sewage and solid waste into Katahal drain connected to river Ganga in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, 12/04/2023
Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Manoj Kumar Rai Vs State of Uttar Pradesh dated 12/04/2023. Grievance in the application is against discharge of sewage and solid waste into Katahal drain connected to river Ganga in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh.
When the matter was taken up by the NGT, July 22, 2022, the court took into consideration the report filed by the joint committee comprising the NMCG,CPCB, Secretary, Urban Development Department, UP, State PCB and District Magistrate, Balia. The court observed that "57 KM sewerage and 5.68 KM rising mains have remained unutilized for 13 years. There is no terminal STP and sewerage is lying defunct".
The NGT, April 12, 2023 said that the report filed by the ACS Urban Development, UP showed almost total inaction of the state authorities " except raising huge demands of money as a pretext for avoiding basic responsibility as earlier funds had not been duly utilised nor attempt made to collect funds locally".
No accountability has been fixed for the erring officers resulting for discharge of pollution directly in Ganga. There is a daily discharge of about 20 MLD of untreated sewage in Ganga and there is no information about performance of in-situ remediation claimed at 6 locations, the court noted.
The bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Sudhir Agarwal expressed dissatisfaction with the failure of the Uttar Pradesh administration especially failure to hold erring officers accountable for wastage of public money and preventing damage to river Ganga. The court noted that 3.37 lakh metric tons of legacy waste is yet to be remediated.
The court directed the Chief Secretary, Uttar Pradesh in coordination with other concerned authorities in the state to ensure remedial action, for which a special meeting of concerned officers should be convened within one month. Execution of remedial measures including fixing of responsibility of erring officers will be discussed in the meeting. In addition, an action taken report should be filed within four months.