Gujarat High Court Seeks Stand Of State, Harij Nagar Palika In PIL On Pollution Of Lake Due To Dumping Of Waste

The Gujarat High Court on December 12 (Thursday) sought the stand of the State and Harij Nagar Palika located in Patan District in a PIL petition concerning pollution in a lake in the area allegedly due to untreated sewage being diverted into the water body which is stated the largest lake in the town.

A division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi issued notice to the respondents permitting them to file their response. The court also permitted the petitioner to amend the description of the respondent no. 1 to principal secretary urban housing.

During the hearing counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted, "This is a matter pertaining to a lake situated in Harij nagar palika. The lake is there since inception when it was a village. The difficulty is that the STP (Sewage Treatment Plant) had broken, instead of treating the STP they have diverted the sewage line".

The court orally enquired the district and the authority under which the lake falls. To which the counsel replied that it falls in Patan district under Harij Nagar Palika.

The PIL has been filed by a social worker and formerly elected corporator of a Ward of the Nagar Palika–Parmar Prafulbhai Khanabhai for addressing the severe issue of pollution in the Gam-Talab, once a vital source of water for the residents of the town of Harij and without resolving the root cause of it, the Palika issued a tender for a beautification project worth Rupees 5.9 crores.

It was stated in the PIL, even though a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) was installed eight years ago in the town, the blocked sewage lines have resulted in untreated sewage being directly dumped into the lake.

It states that the two years ago the gutter lines were blocked and instead of repairing the same and treating the sewage water at the STP, the nagar palika diverted the sewage into the line which goes into the lake. It claims that the lake/pond has now turned into mixture of hazardous chemicals.

The Petitioner also highlighted the contamination of water leading to foul smell and risk to waterborne diseases and health issues among the people of the town. The Petitioner in his plea stated that the complaints and representations from residents to the Nagar Palika went unheard and unaddressed.

The Petitioner prayed in his plea to issue a writ of mandamus or direction to stop the sewage lines to directly dump the waste in the Gam-Talab, to first address and resolve the root cause of pollution and then proceed for beautification work.

Case Title: Parmar Prafulbhai Khanabhai vs The State of Gujarat