The Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) found during a joint inspection that all seven sewage treatment plants associated with the Harmu river are non-functional.
The RMC has sent a communication to the Jharkhand Urban Infrastructure Development Company Limited (JUIDCO) to repair the STPs and hand them over to it, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) was informed on October 1, 2026.
JUIDCO is executing the Rejuvenation and Conservation of Harmu River Project under the Urban Development and Housing Department, Jharkhand.
RMC also sought time from the NGT to file a further affidavit and place further development along with the supporting documents on record. The next hearing of the case has been scheduled for November 4, 2026.
The matter relates to STPs associated with the Harmu river. The applicant requested a detailed and verifiable status report on all STPs associated with the Harmu, including capacity, performance metrics, and timelines for making them fully operational. The application called for stopping the discharge of untreated sewage and mandating in situ treatment or interim diversion until STPs become operational.
The applicant submitted that over the past two decades, the river has suffered extensive encroachment, reduction in width, and severe pollution due to dumping of solid waste, plastic, and continuous discharge of untreated domestic sewage. Although the RMC constructed multiple STPs under the rejuvenation project, untreated sewage continues to be discharged through newly formed drains and illegal inlets into the Harmu.
Media reports and on-ground evidence indicate that the constructed STPs are either non-functional, underperforming, or completely defunct and sewage continues to be discharged directly into the river, the application stated.
Necessary action should be taken by the concerned authorities for the identification and demarcation of full tank level (FTL) of the Shahpura wetland along with the buffer zone, the NGT’s central bench directed on October 5, 2026.
In response to the previous order of September 2, 2026, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Kolar, attended the proceedings to finalise and clarify the identification and demarcation of the lake. The SDM intimated that records from the Water Resources Department (WRD) has been transferred to the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) and records are required to finalise the exact FTL and other measurements.
The bench of Justice Sheo Kumar Singh stated that it was surprising the SDM Kolar was unaware of any progress regarding the demarcation of the FTL and its buffer zone, suggesting the SDM attended the proceedings without relevant information. The court also noted that BMC has not submitted its response yet and BMC was directed to submit the compliance before the next date of hearing on October 30, 2026.
The NGT pointed out that the tribunal has already constituted a committee to finalise the matter and directed that the SDM Kolar, WRD and BMC coordinate with the committee in “finalising the identification and demarcation of Shahpura lake within 10 days without fail instead of diverting the issue to one another wasting the time of Tribunal.”
SDM Kolar was further directed to immediately start necessary action regarding the removal of encroachment after the finalisation of the FTL and buffer area.
The Madhya Pradesh State Wetland Authority, vide letter August 21, 2026, stated as per the wetland inventory prepared under the ISRO/SAC project, a total of 13,565 wetlands have been mapped in Madhya Pradesh. Out of the wetlands identified in Bhopal district, Shahpura lake has been assigned Wetland ID MP002153 and has an area of 47.2205 hectares. It is situated in Shahpura village in the Bhopal district’s Kolar tehsil (subdistrict).
The NGT’s southern bench on October 6, 2026, set aside the environmental clearance (EC) granted on March 12, 2024, by the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Kerala to Tropical Granite, Kuthanur, Palakkad, Kerala, until the effect of cluster mining is considered. This should include the transportation and related issues, replenishment and recharge issues, and a hydrogeological study of the cluster area.
The court directed the state of Kerala to prepare the DSR considering all the aspects, including the general profile of the district and land utilisation patterns like forest, agriculture, horticulture, mining, within four months. The order stated that the clearance must be re-issued subject to the SEIAA’s satisfaction.
The matter concerned the grant of EC to Tropical Granite under ‘B1 (a)’ category for the Granite Building Stone Quarry Project proposed over 2.6262 hectares in Kuthanur village, Alathur taluk (subdistrict), Palakkad.
The appellant stated that the project proponent suppressed vital information relevant to the environmental appraisal while submitting the application for EC. The Muppuzha village in Kunathur Panchayat contains several archaeological sites of megalithic importance, which constitute significant environmental and heritage considerations requiring due examination during the appraisal stage.
