NGT Directs UP Chief Secretary To Take Action Against Ganga Pollution And Hold Erring Officers Accountable

The principal bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh (UP) to ensure remedial action against pollution in Ganga and fix responsibility of erring officers.

The bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel(Chairperson), Justice Sudhir Agarwal, Dr. A Senthil Vel and Dr.Afroz Ahmad (Expert Members) said that, “An action taken report dated 09.02.2023 has now been filed which shows 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.”

An application was filed raising concerns about the discharge of sewage and solid waste into Katahal drain, which is connected to the River Ganga in Balia, Uttar Pradesh.

The applicant stated that a sewage network was proposed, and the contract was given to M/s. Jyoti Buildtech Pvt. Ltd. However, despite spending a considerable amount, the network has not been established even after 13 years. As a result, the entire sewage and waste of the city is continuously flowing into the River Ganga.

In January 2022,the Tribunal sought a factual and action taken report from a joint Committee of NMCG, CPCB, Secretary, Urban Development Department, UP, State PCB and District Magistrate, Balia.

In July 2022, the matter was considered in light of a factual report filed in March 2022, which acknowledged the unsatisfactory state of affairs and recommended remedial action. The Tribunal directed further action in accordance with the recommendations and instructed the ACS of Urban Development, UP to file an action taken report.

In January 2023, when the matter was taken again, it was observed that no action taken report had been filed. Therefore, the ACS/PS of Urban Development, UP was required to be present along with the action taken report and an explanation for non-compliance with the previous order."

Accordingly, the matter was taken up in the current proceeding. The Tribunal found that the action taken report dated 09.02.2023 reveals almost complete inaction by the state authorities, who have raised substantial monetary demands as a pretext for evading their basic responsibilities.

Previous funds were not utilized properly, nor were any attempts made to collect funds locally. Moreover, no accountability has been established for the responsible officers, resulting in the discharge of pollution directly into the Ganga, opined the NGT.

The Tribunal observed that there is daily discharge of about 20 MLD of untreated sewage in Ganga which is a matter of concern.

It found that there is no information about performance of in-situ remediation claimed at 6 locations. Earlier report of the joint Committee showed that BoD of drain before confluence with river Ganga is 13.6 mg/l with total coliform (TC) of 110000 MPN/100ml. Water quality of river Ganga after confluence of drain is BOD 6.12 mg/l and TC was 130000 lakhs MPN/100 ml indicating the damage to the water quality of the river.

“We record our dissatisfaction with the failure of the State Administration particularly failure to hold erring officers accountable for wastage of public money and preventing damage to river Ganga. Thus, there is a need for involvement of higher level officers to fix accountability for continuing failure of officers involved who appear prima facie to have abused the funds at the cost of public interest”, the NGT said.

The Tribunal has recently reviewed the issue of compliance of solid and liquid waste management status in U.P. in O.A. No. 606 of 2018, Compliance of Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 and other environmental issues, in pursuance of orders of Supreme Court case Almitra H. Patel vs. Union of India & Ors.,2014 (in respect of solid waste management) and in ParyavaranSuraksha vs. Union of India,2017.

After a detailed consideration of the matter, the Tribunal concluded that the gaps in the generation and treatment of solid and liquid waste need to be addressed expeditiously, in accordance with the timelines set by statutory rules and the Supreme Court's judgment. The officers responsible for the failure to address this issue must be held accountable, added the Tribunal.

In light of the above, the Tribunal issued an order stating that the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh, in coordination with other concerned authorities in the state, must ensure remedial action in the present case. A special meeting of concerned officers should be convened within one month to plan and execute remedial measures, including the fixing of responsibility for erring officers.

The matter will now be taken up on 23 August.

Case Title:Manoj Kumar Rai v.State of Uttar Pradesh

Counsel for Respondents: Mr. Amrit Abhijat, Principal Secretary, Urban Development, Department with Ms. Priyanka Swami, Advocate for the State of UP

Mr. Atif Suhrawardy, Advocate for CPCB

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