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The National Green Tribunal has directed the Municipal Corporation, Durg, to complete sewage treatment plants on drains meeting the Shivnath river within six months
The tribunal said untreated wastewater must not be discharged into land or water bodies and interim treatment measures must be used
Separate orders were issued on illegal hospitality units in Ghaziabad and rising air pollution in Chhattisgarh
The NGT has sought time-bound compliance reports from state authorities
A bench of Justice Sheo Kumar Singh of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), on January 16, 2026, issued a series of directions to prevent pollution of drinking water sources in Durg district, Chhattisgarh.
The tribunal said that any anicut or stop dam must be constructed upstream, at locations where no drains meet the stream, in order to avoid contamination of drinking water sources. It noted that sewage treatment plants (STP) have been proposed by the Municipal Corporation, Durg, on both drains that meet the Shivnath river, and directed that their construction be completed at the earliest.
Until the STPs become fully operational, the tribunal said conventional wastewater treatment processes must be adopted. It observed that several treatment technologies are available, both in-situ and ex-situ, and directed the municipal corporation to ensure that no untreated wastewater is discharged onto open land or into water bodies. Until the STPs are completed, alternative treatment methods must be used to treat wastewater.
The tribunal directed that the STPs under construction be completed within six months, and that a completion report, along with details of interim wastewater treatment arrangements, be submitted to the Registrar of the tribunal after this period.
The matter arose from an application filed by Amarchand Surana, a resident of Shakkar-Pramila Kunj in Durg. The case relates to two anicuts — Bhatgaon and Urla Belaudi — built across the Shivnath river in Durg district by the Tandula Water Resources Department for water storage. Owing to construction flaws, the tribunal noted, these structures have become associated with the storage of polluted water.
Members of a joint committee visited the site and submitted a report. The Shivnath river, a major tributary of the Mahanadi, flows through Chhattisgarh and originates in Godari village in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district. The river is about 383 kilometres long, with a stretch of approximately 23.5 kilometres passing through Durg district. The committee assessed the status of sewage management in Durg city, noting that rapid urban growth and population increase have led to sewage being discharged into natural drains, which could pollute water bodies such as the Shivnath river.
At present, around 6 million litres per day (MLD) of sewage from colonies in Durg is collected in septic tanks and treated at a 30 MLD STP operated by the Bhilai Steel Plant. The remaining domestic wastewater from households is collected in soak pits and septic tanks, with overflow discharged through local drains into the Shivnath river via the Shankar nalla and Pulgaon nalla.
It was observed that sewage from Durg city travels around 15 kilometres before merging with the Shivnath river at Belaudi. During this transit, the committee noted, the wastewater undergoes partial oxidation through natural self-purification processes.
The intake wells for the Durg and Bhilai water supply schemes are located upstream of the Mahamara anicut, built across the confluence of the Pulgaon nalla and the Shivnath river. The committee observed that the Pulgaon nalla and Shankar nalla carry most of the sewage generated in Durg city before joining the river.
Currently, water supply is drawn from existing anicuts built across the Shivnath river near Durg city. On pollution load, the report stated that the slope of Durg city bifurcates the natural drainage pattern into two zones: Zone I covering the Shankar nalla catchment, and Zone II covering the Pulgaon nalla catchment. The results of wastewater analysis indicated that the sewage load carried by these drains and its impact on river water quality is presently minimal, but requires intervention.
Counsel appearing for the Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board informed the tribunal that construction of the STPs has already commenced and that the municipal corporation has initiated alternative wastewater treatment methods, both in-situ and ex-situ.
On January 18, 2026, the NGT directed the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) and the District Magistrate, Ghaziabad, to file an updated report on hospitality establishments — including restaurants, hotels and malls — operating in the district without obtaining the required consents under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
The tribunal said the action taken report must specifically state:
the total number of units in Ghaziabad required to obtain consent to establish (CTE) and consent to operate (CTO) from the UPPCB;
the number of units that have obtained CTE/CTO, the number of pending applications, and the number of rejected applications;
the number of cases in which closure orders have been issued;
the number of cases where electricity supply has been disconnected pursuant to closure orders, and the number of complaints filed against violators.
The matter has been listed for the next hearing on April 2, 2026.
On January 16, 2026, the NGT called for a report from a four-member joint committee on measures to combat air pollution in Chhattisgarh. The committee has been directed to visit the affected areas and submit a factual report, along with details of actions taken, within six weeks.
The tribunal also directed the committee to formulate and implement an Air Pollution Response Mechanism on the lines of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), customised for the state. The mechanism is to focus particularly on Raipur and other densely populated cities where air quality has been deteriorating, ensuring mandatory enforcement of restrictions when the Air Quality Index (AQI) crosses prescribed limits.
The tribunal referred to a report published by the newspaper Dainik Bhaskar, Raipur, on November 20, 2025, which highlighted persistently poor air quality in Raipur, Bhilai and Korba. Pollution levels in these cities were reported to be around 15 micrometres higher than prescribed standards.
While the Supreme Court-endorsed Commission for Air Quality Management framework offers a model for coordinated regional pollution control with strict timelines and monitoring, the tribunal noted that Chhattisgarh has not adopted a comparable mechanism for its non-attainment cities, nor prepared an effective Graded Response Action Plan.