HC to agencies: Ensure only treated water is discharged into Yamuna
Delhi High Court
has asked agencies to ensure that only treated water is discharged into the
Yamuna river
, directing them to take immediate steps in this regard.
A special bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Manmeet PS Arora, flagged the need to check the flow of untreated water into the river after a committee set up by it reported several shortcomings in the functioning of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs).
"A brief perusal of the report itself would show that there is an enormous quantum of work that needs to be undertaken in order to ensure that only treated water is discharged to the Yamuna," the court observed, directing
Delhi Jal Board
, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Delhi Pollution Control Committee and Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation to take urgent steps.
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HC said there are various shortcomings that need to be addressed and further elaborate steps to be taken.
It ordered a multi-agency meeting to be held with the members of the high court-appointed panel for further action.
After this, the officials may agree to hold further meetings in this regard, if necessary. Finally, DJB and MCD shall file their joint report and the action plan for addressing various shortcomings, deficiencies and improvements as pointed out by the special committee, the court further directed. It also took note of the panel's submission that most STPs have flow meters, but their efficacy remained doubtful.
The court asked DJB to file a report on this matter.
It had earlier warned DJB to get its act together on the functioning of sewage treatment plants or face contempt of court while reviewing steps taken to improve STPs' working to combat heavy pollution in the river. The court had also pulled up Delhi govt for its failure to regulate the emission of sewage and industrial waste in the Yamuna, stating that its STPs were not working according to capacity and something was "drastically wrong" with them.
The court was dealing with suo motu petitions on the water logging problem in Delhi, the issue of rainwater harvesting and easing traffic jams in the national capital during monsoon and other periods.
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