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The Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (MPPCB) imposed an environmental compensation (EC) of Rs 17,22,00,000 on 12 urban local bodies for failing to prevent waste discharge into the Narmada River.
This action, detailed in the MPPCB’s report on November 29, 2024, was in compliance with a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order from September 10, 2024.
The issue concerns the discharge of untreated waste into the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh. The MPPCB has acted against the violating urban local bodies (ULB) and has completed the process of imposing the environmental compensation.
The report had a list of urban local bodies fined. Nagar Pallika Parishad in Naramadapuram faced an EC of Rs 136 lakh for breaching the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules of 2016 and discharging sewage. Similarly, Nagar Parishad Nemawar in Dewas district was fined Rs 176 lakh for violating the SWM Rules of 2016 and sewage discharge.
Furthermore, according to the previous report submitted by the state pollution control board, the EC imposed on Nagar Pallika Parishad in Dhar district, Nagar Parishad in Anuppur district and Nagar Pallika Parishad in Dindori district had already been concluded.
MPPCB stated that letters have been sent to the respective district collectors to start the recovery process of the EC imposed on the concerned urban local bodies as per the MP Land Revenue Code, 1959.
On November 27, 2024, NGT requested a report from the district collector of Mumbai City and the chairman of the district coastal zone monitoring committee regarding the actions taken in response to a complaint by Vanshakti, a non-profit, and others about encroachments and debris dumping near the eastern freeway in Wadala, Mumbai, Maharashtra.
NGT’s western zone bench directed that the reply be submitted within two weeks.
The application requested that the officials be directed to remove all encroachments and clear debris at the site adjacent to the eastern freeway in Wadala, Mumbai, Maharashtra. It also called for the district collector to identify and monitor coastal regulation zone (CRZ) violations and encroachments at the site.
The application stated that a complaint was made to the district collector, Mumbai City / chairman, district coastal zone monitoring committee; Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai; State of Maharashtra through principal secretary, department of environment; and mangrove cell, Maharashtra State Forest Department through additional principal chief conservator of forests through an e-mail dated August 21, 2019. It highlighted the illegal activity with photographs, but no action has been taken at their end.
The satellite imagery demonstrates that the encroachment and dumping of waste and debris commenced sometime before December 2019. The site in question is a wetland, as the same is evidenced by the National Wetland Atlas, 2010 and 2021, created by Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority.
Dumping is being carried out under the eastern freeway on the BPT Road to Bhakti Park Mono Rail Station on about one km stretch in the proximity of mangroves. It is further mentioned that land parcels created additional illegal dumping area, in order to use for truck / tanker parking lots, to host wedding functions, construct illegal shops and structures.
The applicant mentioned that the region is part of the intertidal zone, and therefore, it also falls under the CRZ-I category. Due to the lack of action from the authorities, the applicants have sought the tribunal's intervention to issue directives for the area's protection.
A shortfall of 435.5 million litres per day (MLD) in used water management has been identified in Assam. To tackle this issue, sewage treatment plants (STP) with a combined capacity of 338.50 MLD have been proposed and are in different phases of development. For example, a STP with a design capacity of 2 MLD has been made operational in Nagaon, executed by the Assam Urban Water and Supply and Sewerage Board (AUWSSB).
This information was included in the action taken report submitted by the Assam government, specifically the department of Housing and Urban Affairs, regarding wastewater management in the state’s urban local bodies.
Approval has been accorded by the government of Assam for an amount of Rs 1,460.37 crore for three STPs (189 MLD) to be implemented in Guwahati under Japan International Cooperation Agency assistance. Fifteen MLD of sewage is being remediated using bacterial dosing at Silsako Beel before release into the Brahmaputra by Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority.
As a part of the strategy followed by the department of Housing and Urban Affairs in cities with a population less than 20,000, dual solutions are being implemented in the form of faecal sludge treatment plants and in-situ treatment of wastewater through nature-based solutions.
Taking into consideration the order of NGT to explore low-cost technologies for used water management, the state has undertaken some initiatives. Among them, six faecal sludge treatment plants (FSTP) have been constructed in Goalpara (7 KLD), Titabar (10 KLD), Tinsukia (20 KLD), Mariani (5 KLD), North Lakhimpur (10 KLD) and Guwahati (20 KLD) and in operation since August 2024.
Some 26 more FSTPs are being constructed on a cluster basis with technical assistance from UNICEF, expected to add additional capacity of 337 KLD.
As per the direction of NGT, a ring-fenced account has been created by the department of housing and urban affairs, and an amount of Rs 1,014.18 crore has been credited to the account for compliance of the various directions of the NGT with respect to solid waste management, used water management and legacy waste management in the ULBs of Assam.
The report of October 9, 2024, was uploaded to the NGT site November 29, 2024.