The National Green Tribunal (NGT) rejected the report filed by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation regarding basic facilities in housing colonies in the city.
The affidavit submitted by KMC does not disclose the wards in which piped water has been provided and the wards in which no piped water has been provided, the court pointed out.
KMC stated that it has taken initiative to extend piped water supply to the remaining city population as well as distribution segment of water supply system and tentatively five years time is required for this purpose.
That means for five years a large population of the city must go without piped water, the court pointed out. It was submitted in the course of arguments that the problem is also aggravated due to slum colonies coming up in the city.
The tribunal expressed surprise as to how the building plans are sanctioned for individual houses or conglomerate housing colonies in the wards falling within KMC if there is no guarantee of proper supply of piped water or drainage system.
"In our opinion, this submission is not acceptable. If mushrooming slum colonies are allowed to come up in the city and are in the knowledge of the authorities, it is the duty and responsibility of the authorities to provide housing for persons living in such slum colonies ensuring adequate piped water supply. What should be the nature of the housing colony is for the government to decide but slum dwellers must be rehabilitated and provided for with drinking water which is a basic necessity," the court said.
NGT December 5, 2024 directed KMC to file a better affidavit without concealing any material from the court. The affidavit should be filed within four weeks, the court added.
NGT had taken up the matter suo Motu based on a news report which appeared in India.com dated April 22, 2024 titled After Bengaluru, water crisis hits Kolkata city as ground water level depletes in many areas, residents express concern.
NGT December 5, 2024 directed the collector and district magistrate, Puri, Odisha to ensure implementation of the recommendations of the inspection committee, with assistance from Nilakanteswar Dev temple, on the matter of removal of encroachment of a waterbody Chandan Pokhari in Gopinathpur village.
The authorities have been directed to file an affidavit of compliance within four weeks.
It was alleged that the waterbody has started losing its water retention capacity due to uncontrolled pollution and encroachment and is being converted into a dumping yard for all kinds of solid and liquid waste of the nearby areas. It was stated that the waterbody is used not only for farming and fishing purposes but also for religious purposes.
A committee visited the site and observed that the waterbody is enclosed from three sides by private plots, school and temple premises. Commercial establishments existed on the fourth side.
It was found that the pond has been fully covered with water hyacinth, which restricts the flow of the sunlight and air entering the pond creating an anaerobic condition.
Some private houses and private shops are discharging their domestic waste water directly into the pond. They are also dumping the household solid wastes near the pond area. The area comes under Panchayat jurisdiction and does not come under Puri Municipality thus solid waste is not removed regularly. The pond has been severely polluted and it is not in use.
"It is a fact that the Chandan Pokhari has not been used by the public for the last eight-10 years. So, due to non-use of the pond, the water is covered with water hyacinth and nobody has taken steps for removal of it," the committee report said. The committee recommended steps for immediate renovation of Chandan Pokhari.
The committee in its report has recommended that water hyacinth shall be removed completely from the pond; private houses and the private shops be instructed to stop discharging of the domestic waste water into the pond and from throwing / dumping of household and shop solid waste into the pond.
It is also recommended that the pond be desilted and proper lined embankment be provided around the pond so that no outside waste enters into the pond.
It was also recommended by the committee that the pond be provided with an outlet to release the excess water from the pond to nearby drainage system to avoid overflow to the nearby areas during the rainy season.
Water quality of River Markanda at Himachal Pradesh and entry point of Haryana are meeting the primary water quality criteria for bathing standards and Ruchira Paper Ltd was also found complying to the discharge standards. This was stated in the report filed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to the NGT.
The matter related to pollution of Markanda at Naraingarh, Narayangarh tehsil, Ambala district.
The applicant has alleged that ever since industrial activities have started in industrial area at Kala Amb, Himachal Pradesh, polluted industrial waste water of Kala Amb factories located at Trilokpur road, is discharged through Kaimi drain in Markanda thereby polluting the river water and hurting the religious sentiments of the people as well as causing serious diseases and mortality amongst villagers and the cattle.
Additionally, it was also alleged that one paper mill is also causing environmental pollution / degradation by discharging its wastewater through illegal drain in rMarkanda.
The joint committee conducted monitoring and inspection of Markanda, Jattanwala and Ruchira Paper Limited on September 21, 2022 and October 21, 2022. Samples were collected by both SPCBs of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.
The CPCB identifies polluted river stretches (PRS) based on the water quality data of rivers. For identification of PRS, locations/stretches of rivers not meeting the primary water quality criterion of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) parameter (indicator of organic pollution) for outdoor bathing is considered.
For rejuvenation of identified PRS, comprehensive action plans have been prepared by River Rejuvenation Committee constituted by the respective state government / Union territory administration, under the overall supervision and coordination of Principal Secretary, Environment of the concerned state / UT for bringing all the polluted river stretches, including PRS on Markanda in Himachal Pradesh, identified by CPCB fit for bathing purposes in 2018.
The CPCB report of November 7, 2024 was uploaded to the NGT site, December 9, 2024.