NGT orders ‘prompt action’ for desilting Delhi sewers

New Delhi, Sep 9 (PTI) The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed authorities to take “expeditious steps” to complete desilting of sewers, including those at Barapullah, Kushak and Sunehri Pul, in Delhi.

Noting that silt removed from a sewer remains beside it and flows back into it when it rains, the court ordered the authorities to take steps to remove it.

The green body, which was hearing a case related to discharge of effluents through sewers into the Yamuna river and related issues including setting up of sewage treatment plants (STPs) and de-silting and dredging of sewers, also imposed a penalty of Rs 20,000 on the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) for filing a belated reply in the matter.

On August 13, the court, while considering the desilting of the sewers, had sought a response from the DJB within two weeks.

In its order passed on September 4, a bench comprising NGT Chairman Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert member A Senthil Vel noted that the DJB had filed its report late and that had hampered the proceedings.

“It will be up to the competent authority of the DJB to trace the official responsible for the delay in filing the report and recover the costs from him,” the court said.

Regarding the desilting of the drains, the court said: “Prompt steps should be taken to complete the desilting process. It is undisputed that the silt removed from the drain is kept beside the drain at some places which due to rains flow towards the drain.” “Therefore, the concerned authorities responsible for desilting are directed to take simultaneous steps to remove the silt from the drains and transport it to the appropriate place,” it said. It also directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to open the vents of the Barapullah drain in the Defence Colony area in a manner that does not cause any trouble to the residents.

“The MCD has been instructed that if the vents are opened in the drain, then it will be ensured that bad smell and gases do not create any problem for the residents,” the court said.

The Green Committee noted that as per its previous order dated January 13, 2015, there was a directive to the DJB for construction of 32 new STPs in addition to the existing 23 STPs.

“The DJB filed the affidavit dated August 1 containing the updated status of STPs, but the said updated status mentions only 40 STPs,” the court said, adding that information regarding 15 STPs was missing.

Expressing his displeasure, he said, “It is undisputed that out of 55 STPs, only 40 STPs have been constructed so far. More than nine years have passed since the court order, but the order has not been complied with so far.” He also criticised the authorities concerned for providing a “wrong calculation” on sewage generation in the national capital after taking note of the submissions of the DJB’s counsel that the installed treatment capacity in Delhi was 667 million gallons per day (MGD) against an estimated sewage generation in Delhi of 792 MGD.

“The estimate of 792 MGD of sewage generation in Delhi itself is based on a wrong calculation. Instead of calculating the sewage generation based on population or per capita sewage generation, a wrong basis of water supply per MCD has been taken, whereas it is undisputed that MCD is not the sole source of water supply in Delhi.

“There are borewells, there are large number of cases of illegal extraction of water from borewells and there are other sources of water supply in Delhi as well. Therefore, the calculation so given by the MCD regarding the generation of sewage and its correspondence with the installed capacity is incorrect and cannot be accepted,” the court said.

The court noted that the DJB’s counsel had stated that instead of STPs, decentralised sewage treatment plants (DSTPs) had been constructed.

The court castigated the counsel and said, “He tried to justify the non-compliance of the order for construction of 32 STPs by arguing that a proper processing facility was created and the remaining STPs that were to be constructed were merged with the DSTPs.” Taking note of the information before it, the court said that none of the DSTPs had been constructed, while land was not available for two plants.

He said: “Given the slow progress and performance of the DJB, it is difficult to believe that these DSTPs will be in place by the completion date of December 31.” The case was posted on November 7 for further proceedings. PTI MNR ANB ANB