Untreated effluents from 11 Hry drains polluting Yamuna
To meet tribunal’s directions, the state government will have to stop the flow of effluents by these drains in various districts by March 31 next year
KARNAL: Millions of litres of untreated effluents released from 11 drains from various districts of Haryana are polluting the Yamuna river.
These drains have been identified as Dhanaura Escapes in Yamunanagar, Drain 2 in Panipat, Drain 6 in Sonepat, Mungeshpur and KCB drains in Bahadurgrah and Leg-1, 2 and 3 Drains in Gurugram and Budhiya Nullah and Guanchi Drain in Faridabad.
These drains are releasing 1002.39 million litres of untreated effluents in Yamuna every day.
As per the directions by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the Haryana government will have to stop the flow of these drains into Yamuna by March 31 next year.
The commencement of setting up of sewage treatment plants (STPS) and connecting all the drains and other sources of generation of sewage to the STPS must be ensured by March 31 this year and the deadline for completing all steps of action plans, including completion of setting up STPS and their commissioning, has been fixed as March 31, 2021.
An official familiar with the development said on January 10, during a meeting with members of Ngt-appointed River Yamuna Monitoring Committee (RYMC), the Haryana chief secretary and officers of other departments assured that as per the directions of the NGT, work to stop flow of these drains will be stopped as per the deadline.
The state has given a detailed plan for these two aspects of covtpd ering the gap in treatment capacity as well as sewer network, which has been taken cognisance by RYMC. A nodal department was identified for each drain for defining scope of work pertaining to various departments, the official said.
As per Haryana’s monthly progress report on Yamuna, out of total 5,568 tonnes per day (TPD), municipal solid waste generated by 84 urban local bodies in the state, only, 2108 TPD is being processed or treated and remaining quantity 3,460.12 is being sent to landfills.
The state government has taken some steps to deal with thewith problem. Around 1,516 km of sewer line was proposed to be laid in 34 towns in the catchment area of Yamuna. Out of this, 832 km of sewer line has already been laid. Sewerage has been fully laid in 11 towns of Radaur, Ganaur, Ladwa, Nuh, Kharkhoda, Sampla, Yamunanagar, Hathin, Meham, Gurugram and Chhachhrauli. Sewer lines are being laid in 23 towns and plan for Beri and Panipat are beyond the timelines prescribed by NGT, says the report.
The number of industries in catchment areas of Yamuna is around 2,597 and the quantum of industrial effluent generation is 129.7 MLD
Talking to HT, S Narayanan, member secretary, Haryana State Pollution Control Board, said, “Most of the things required to implement these orders are being worked out and the chief secretary has already formed a monitoring cell and state level monitoring of the work has already been started.”
“I think the RYMC has indicated the approximate quantum of untreated effluent, both untapped and untreated, due to lack of infrastructure being drained into Yamuna,” he said, adding that state-level agencies have been deputed to deal with these drains and they may face action if they fail to complete the work as per the schedule.
In July last year, the NGT directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to shut down polluting industries in “critically polluted” and “severely polluted” industrial zones of Panipat, Gurgaon and Faridabad.