Skip to main content

Gujarat govt "allowing" untreated effluents to be discharged into sea, "refuses" to penalize defaulting industries

By Our Representative Latest figures, released by well-known Vadodara-based environmentalist Rohit Prajapati, have revealed that the Gujarat government has been allowing the release of industrial wastewater into the Gulf of Khambhat off its industrial estates in Vadodara and South Gujarat without ensuring that the effluent treatment plants maintain the norm required for the release.
The figures show that the industrial estates at Ankleshwar, Jhagadia and Panoli have not been treating effluents the Final Effluent Treatment Plant (FETP), the Narmada Clean Tech (NCT), which happens to be a a subsidiary of the state-owned Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC).
"The result is, the FETP is unable to fully treat the effluents as required by state and Central agencies, disposing of polluted wastewater into the sea without conforming to marine standards", a top government insider, directly monitoring environmental norms, told Counterview.
The figures show, last month, average Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) was 2532 mg/litre at the inlet, as against the norm of 1000 mg/litre. At the outlet, following treatment for release into the sea, as against the norm of 500 mg/litre, average COD was 992 mg/litre. In fact, monthly averages show that, ever since January 2017, the standard was never maintained.
In environmental chemistry, COD is an indicative measure of the amount of oxygen that can be consumed by reactions in a measured solution. It is commonly expressed in mass of oxygen consumed over volume of solution. A COD test can be used to easily quantify the amount of organics in water.
Based on the figures, Prajapati, in a letter to the Union environment minister, as also Central and state ministers and agencies looking after environmental norms, has accused the officialdom of "openly allowing the NCT to consistently and admittedly violate the environment laws".
Rohit Prajapati
He wonders, how the Government of India could lift the moratorium on further industrial expansion in Ankleshwar and Panoli, which are yet to meet the "prescribed Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) norms." The moratorium was lifted in November 2016.
Pointing out that FETP and "defaulting industries", by failing to maintain the norm, are violating the Supreme Court Order dated February 22, 2017, which was based on a Public Interest Litigation filed by the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti ((PSS), which he heads, Prajapati seeks cancellation of authorization and environmental clearance granted to them.
The polluted wastewater is conveyed into the sea through the 52.76 km pipeline, inaugurated by Narendra Modi as Gujarat chief minister in January 25, 2007. Built with tax payers' money, out of the total project cost of Rs 131.43 crore, the industries paid Rs 21.75 crore (about 17%).
According to Prapapati, the 52.97 km pipeline has been broken many times, leading to illegal discharge into Amla Khadi, which the Narmada river near the sea. Often, the polluted water finds its way into the farmlands in various villages. Farmers have repeatedly complained about this, but they have been "deliberately ignored", he adds.
Meanwhile, the Nation Green Tribunal, Delhi, has taken up the hearing of a PSS plea for implementing the Supreme Court order, which says Prajapati, required that all State Pollution Control Boards to issue notices to industrial units to make their effluent treatment plants fully operational within three months from the date of order, i.e. by May 22, 2017.
On the expiry of the notice period, the concerned State Pollution Control Boards were mandated to carry out inspections, to verify the quality of effluent released by them, and the defaulting units had to be restrained from any further industrial activity. The NGT is to hear the plea on March 15.

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Sections of BSF, BGB personnel 'directly or indirectly' involved in cross border smuggling

By Kirity Roy*  The Border Security Force (BSF) of India and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) of Bangladesh met for 54th Director General level meeting at Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 5th to 9th March, 2024 to discuss on minimizing killings at border area, illegal intrusion, trafficking of drugs and other narcotics, smuggling of arms and ammunitions and other crimes at bordering areas. Further, the summit had an agenda to discuss on overall development in 150 yards area at both sides of the border and design an activity plan for the same.