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Pollution in Kestopur, Bagjola canals in West Bengal
In the wake of rising pollution in the Kestopur and Bagjola canals, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) expressed astonishment over the West Bengal government's ignorance about the number of outfalls dumping waste in the two canals.
"We are shocked to know that the state government is not even aware of the number of outfalls into the Bagjola canal and till date no one has done any survey in this regard," the NGT stated.
In an order dated September 11, 2024, the NGT had directed the West Bengal State Pollution Control Board to submit an affidavit entailing a report on the water samples of the entire stretch of the Kestopur and Bagjola canals taken every three months.
"If any of the parameters are found to be beyond the permissible limits, appropriate communication should be issued by the West Bengal Pollution Control Board to the departments concerned," the order stated.
NGT's eastern bench said the report filed by the Principal Secretary of the state's Environment Department 'is very sketchy in detail'.
The bench mentioned that no timeline has been given for acceptance of the detailed project report (DPR), financial sanction or for inviting tenders or acceptance of tenders for pollution abatement of Kestopur canal.
The court was informed that the Bagjola canal is an old canal from the colonial times and is at least a century old. The government's report stated that, at present, any data regarding the number of outfalls into Bagjola Canal is not available.
In another NGT order dated September 10, 2024, the District Magistrate of Baghpat and the Executive Officer of Baraut were directed to file a fresh report about the measures steps taken for preventing sewage from flowing in the Rajwahe canal in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat district.
A status report on behalf of the Municipal Council, Baraut has been filed. The photographs in that report show the abysmal condition of the canal.
The canal appears to be full of sewage and garbage whereas it is meant for carrying the water for irrigation. If such polluted water is used for irrigation, the consequential health hazard will be severe.
The court observed that though the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board has levied an Environmental Compensation (EC) of Rs 2.3 crore at the rate of Rs 5 lakh per month for the period from July 1, 2020 to April 30, 2024, till now the EC has not been recovered.
The violation is continuing and from the reports, it is not reflected that any effective step at the ground level has been taken to prevent the discharge of sewage in the canal.
Therefore, for subsequent periods of violation, the EC is required to be imposed and recovered. The Municipal Council of Baraut has also not taken effective steps as no sewage treatment plant has been set up.
A policy and action plan for reuse of treated wastewater in Manipur has been drafted and three districts namely, Bishnupur (Keinou), Imphal East (Keirao) and Imphal West (Phayeng), have set up Integrated Rural Solid Waste Disposal System, stated a report submitted by the Manipur government to NGT.
A team, after visiting Indore city for an exposure to success on waste management, is preparing an integrated action plan for waste management in urban, rural and hill areas in the northeastern state.
The segregation of waste is on course in the urban areas, accoording to the state report. The door-to-door collection of solid waste has been completed in 99 per cent of the urban areas.
Homeyard composting and feeding of wet waste to animals are very common practices in the areas and the hill villages. Thus, in these areas about 90 per cent of the total solid waste generated are composted as well as fed to animals.
The August 12, 2024 report was uploaded on the NGT website on September 12, 2024.