[Sabarmati River Pollution] Gujarat HC Pulls Ahmedabad Mega Clean Association's CEO For Sharing 'Unverified' Video On Illegal Waste Dumping

The Gujarat High Court on Friday directed the CEO of the Ahmedabad Mega Clean Association (AMCA) to tender a public apology and an apology to the court, for circulating a video that inaccurately depicted an Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) tanker allegedly dumping untreated sewage into a mega pipeline.

While hearing a 2021 suo motu plea concerning the pollution in the Sabarmati river, a special division bench Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Vaibhavi D Nanavati orally remarked,

"So CEO of AMCA can be expected to forward the video without ascertaining the correct facts? He is not a lay person. When he circulated the video he could have verified the facts at that point of time. This is not the way of behaving...This is not the correct way. We are taking a very serious view of this. Not expected of a CEO". 

The matter was circulated on the oral request of the amicus curiae, who had brought before the court a "video clip" from August 6 circulated by the association's CEO "wherein it was sought to be shown that a tanker of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) was illegally dumping domestic sewage into manhole of Megapipeline".

The AMCA is a Special Purpose Vehicle constituted to look over the operation and maintenance of the city's Mega Pipeline which was conceptualised for carrying the treated effluent from all the Common Effluent Treatment Plants to downstream of river Sabarmati.

During the hearing, the senior counsel appearing for the AMCA said that the CEO was "made to believe" that the illegal dumping of domestic sewage by the tanker of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation was into the manhole of Megapipeline when he circulated the videoclip. It however, later came to his knowledge that the domestic sewage was being released into the manhole of sewage pipeline of AMC. The senior counsel said that an affidavit will be filed and that it was an "error". It was further submitted that public apology will also be tendered, along with an apology to the court.

"An oral apology is sought to be tendered with a letter dated 8-8-2024 addressed to Municipal Commissioner, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation...We take strong exception to the manner in which the CEO of AMCA has behaved into the entire matter. It is not expected of an officer of the level of CEO to circulate a video clip without verifying the genuineness of the same," the bench underscored. 

The court thereafter directed the association's CEO to tender a "public apology" along with a written apology to the court in an affidavit by the next date of hearing, failing which, the court said, it shall take a "strict view of the matter". The matter is next listed on August 30. 

The bench had earlier taken note of a video allegedly pointing to “flouting of standards” involving the Mega pipeline in the city. 

In the previous hearing on August 2 the High Court had issued a bunch of directions including asking Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), the AMCA and 7 CETPs "to engage all the stakeholders to workout the modalities in the direction of re- usability of industrial wastewater released by CETPs after treatment".

The bench had then emphasized that Joint Task Force (JTF), GPCB, AMCA and CETPs–"all have to engage their energy in this direction to bring a positive solution" before the court, so that the "purity and sanctity" of the water the river can be maintained and "zero discharge" of industrial wastewater is achieved.

On July 29, the high court had directed the GPCB to inspect all seven CETPS, after observing that the CETPs were not meeting prescribed discharge norms. It had then asked the officers of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and GPCB–who are members of the Joint Task Force (JTF) to give a joint affidavit as to when did they last make an inspection of the seven CETPs, and further asked it to conduct an inspection of the concerned areas and submit a report.

Case title: Suo Motu v/s Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation through its Municipal Commissioner and Others