Sushil Raghav vs Union of India & Ors

This application has been filed by one Sushil Raghav under Section 25 of NGT Act, 2010 seeking execution of order dated 19.03.2021 passed in O.A No. 68/2021.

Applicant filed Original Application raising a grievance of discharge of huge quantity of domestic sewage/waste water by households on open land, roads, streets and storm water drains in Karkarmodel Village situated in Municipal Corporation, Ward No. 43, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad on the fringes of Sahibabad site-IV industrial area about 5 Km from Anand Vihar in Delhi. Original Application was disposed of by Tribunal vide order dated 19.03.2021. Relevant extract of the order reads as under:

"2. We find that the issue raised has already been dealt with by this Tribunal vide order dated 27.01.2021 in O.A. No. 06/2012, Manoj Mishra vs. Union of India & Ors. relating to remedial action to prevent pollution of river Yamuna and drains and tributaries connected thereto in Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. In relation to State of Uttar Pradesh, the Yamuna Monitoring Committee (YMC) appointed by this Tribunal gave its recommendations which have been quoted in the said order. Therein, reference was made to earlier order dated 06.07.2020 with reference to report of the YMC dated 29.06.2020. The report dealt with the issue (as quoted in the orders of this Tribunal dated 06.07.2020 and also 27.01.2021) as follows:-

" (XIII) State of Uttar Pradesh and Pollution of the River Yamuna Hon'ble NGT may consider issuing the following directions:

Independent assessment of flow in all the drains reaching Yamuna be undertaken within next two months and thereafter submit action plan for setting up STPs to bridge the gap with definite and monitorable timelines.

Out of 427 MLD of treatment capacity in Sahibabad and Loni STPs with only 80 MLD capacity are compliant to standards. A direction to UP Jal Nigam, Ghaziabad MDA and Ghaziabad Municipal Corporations to upgrade/rehabilitate the STPs to meet revised environmental standards of TSS/BOD: 10/10 mg/L within next two years and the authorities being directed to submit Action plan to achieve this within next three months.

Stoppage of all sewage from sewered areas of Sahibabad Banthala and Indira Puri as per the Action Plan prepared by the State Government by December 20.

Implementation of Septage management by December 20 in all areas which are not sewered.

UPSIIDC be directed to ensure setting up CETPs and ensure their proper functioning. UPPCB be directed to put in place policy for realizations in case the industries failed to pay. As requested by the UP PCB the arrears of unpaid EC be directed to be realized as arrears of land revenue.

The YMC is unable to comment on the omnibus compendium submitted for NMCG funding pertaining to Phyto and Bio remediation. However, when approved the drains which are polluting the Sahibabad and its tributary drains need to be taken up if feasible. The reply of UP on in- situ bio/phyto remediation is vague and does not inspire confidence about the seriousness of the intent.

A direction is required to be given to the UP Irrigation Engineer in Chief and the Principal Secretary Irrigation relating to the inordinate delay in paying DDA for undertaking the rejuvenation of the flood plains on the UP side as a deposit work which was promised on several occasions but has not made any headway in the last 7 months when one months time had been sought."

The Tribunal directed the State of UP to take further action in terms of the above recommendations (vide order dated 06.07.2020 (as also quoted in the order dated 27.01.2021) to be monitored by Oversight Committee headed by Justice SVS Rathore, former Judge of the Allahabad High Court at Lucknow. In further report of the YMC dated 07.12.2020, dealt with in the order of this Tribunal dated 27.01.2021, the recommendations of the YMC were noted as follows:-

S.

No.

Issues as per YMC Final report of

29.6.20 and NGT's

order of 6.7.20

Recommendations of YMC

1 to 12...xxx...........................................xxx                                                                                          xxx

13

State     of     Uttar Pradesh            and Pollution    of    the Yamuna

YMC recommends that Hon'ble NGT may consider issuing

the following directions:

Since Shahibabad and Indirapuri drains, which have a very   high   BOD/COD   of   195/580   and   237/930   mg/L respectively  and  contribute  substantial  volume  of  both industrial and domestic sewage into Yamuna, the State of UP  should  complete  the  trapping  of  entire  sewage  and industrial effluent in these drains within next 3 months, failing which the  directions contained inpara:15(A)(iv) of NGT's order dated 11.9.19 should be invoked:

"For delay of the work, the Chief Secretary, State of Uttar Pradesh must identify the officers responsible and assign specific  accountability.  Wherever  there  are  violations, adverse entries in the ACRs must be made in respect of such identified officers for delay in setting up of STPs, sewerage network and its connectivity by the concerned head of the department.

i).  The  State  of  Uttar  Pradesh  will  be  liable  to  pay Environment   Compensation   if   defaults   take   place   as under:

a). The operational deficiencies of the existing STPs must be    rectified    within    three    months    failing    which Environmental compensation of Rs. 5 Lacs per month for STP shall be deposited with CPCB......."

CPCB  and  UPPCB  should  jointly  assess  the  STPs  at Ghaziabad,  Dundahera,  Shahibabad,  Indirapuram  and Loni with regard to their functionality, capacity utilisation and compliance to standards and submit a report to the Tribunal/YMC within one month. The joint team should also give  its  comments  on  the  functional  upgradation  being undertaken  by  the  State  and  whether  the  work  can  be completed as per the schedule given by the State of UP.

The joint team constituted by District Administration, Ghaziabad, should undertake inspections of industries in non -conforming areas on a regular basis as the industries once  closed  have  a  tendency  to  restart.  Strong  punitive action under the Water Act/ Municipal Acts is needed with zero  tolerance  for  industrial  discharge  from  particular areas.

The State of UP should in coordination with DDA take effective  steps  for  rejuvenation  and  protection  of  the

floodplains  and  submit  a  status  report  on  demarcation,

The said report was also accepted as follows:-

"23. Accordingly, we direct that in terms of directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court and earlier orders of this Tribunal, henceforth the Chief Secretary, NCT of Delhi, in coordination with other authorities (such as, Additional Chief Secretary Urban Development, DDA, IDMC, DPCC, DJB) and the Chief Secretaries of Haryana and UP may personally monitor the progress, by evolving effective administrative mechanism to handle grim situation caused by years of neglect. Causes of failure of existing mechanism and remedial measures required be addressed in the light of reports of the Committee. This needs to be further overseen at National level by the Central Monitoring Committee, headed by Secretary Jalshakti, which also includes NMCG and CPCB, in terms of earlier orders of this Tribunal. To give effect to the orders of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, the Tribunal has already directed constitution of River Rejuvenation Committees (RRCs) in all the States/UTs by order passed in OA No. 673 of 2018 in Re: News item published in "The Hindu" authored by Shri Jacob Koshy titled "More river stretches are now critically polluted : CPCB, to be headed by the Environment Secretaries of States/UTs, to prepare and execute action plans for restoration of the polluted river stretches, under the oversight of the Chief Secretaries of the States/UTs. Such action plans are already in place. The RRCs of Delhi, Haryana and UP may accordingly monitor execution of the action plans with proper inter-departmental coordination, to remedy the polluted stretches of river Yamuna in their respective jurisdiction, subject to oversight of the Chief Secretaries on quarterly basis, who may thereafter give their quarterly reports to the Central Monitoring Committee (CMC) headed by the Secretary, Jal Shakti in terms of order dated 21.09.2020 in O.A. No. 673/2018, supra."

In view of above, no separate order is necessary on this application, the matter having already been dealt with.

The application is disposed of.

A copy of this order to forwarded to the Chief Secretary, Uttar Pradesh by e-mail for compliance."

The  applicant's  complaint  is  that  in  spite  of  the  order  being communicated  to  the  concerned  authorities,  the  same  has  not  been complied with and no action has been taken. He states that quantity of discharge of sewage/waste water is very enormous causing collection of water on roads rendering the same un-walkable for pedestrians and also causing spread of diseases like dengue, malaria, etc. He has explained the grievance in para 8 to 13 of the application, as follows:-

"8. That around 1400-1500 households are directly discharging their domestic sewage/wastewater on the roads, streets, land and storm water drains built in front of them.

That the quantities of discharge of sewage/wastewater is so enormous that almost every internal street and storm water drain inside Karkarmodel remains filled therewith, virtually leaving the road unwalkable for pedestrians and non-motorable even for smaller vehicles. Storm water drains remain overflowing in almost every part of Karkarmodel, resulting in accumulation of huge quantities of sewage/wastewater on the roads and streets, most of which are potholed, laid down with interlocking tiles and overburnt bricks.

That the floor of the storm water drains in the locality are uncemented, resulting in percolation of the wastewater and incidental contamination of the soil and groundwater.

That about 90000 to 1 lakh people residing in Karkarmodel are continuing to be affected due to the high levels of pollution caused by open discharge of sewage/wastewater into storm water drains and on land.

That diseases such as malaria and dengue have become a common occurrence in almost every household in the area.

That the sewage/wastewater in the storm water drains at Karkarmodel, after flowing for a distance of about 200 meters through the Sahibabad Site-IV Industrial Area joins the bigger Sahibabad Storm water Drain."

The application has been filed with the following prayer:-

"A. Pass an Order in execution of the Order, dated: 19.03.2021, passed by this Hon'ble Tribunal in the above-titled Original Application, directing the Respondent Nos. 1 & 2 to lay-down a sewerage network in the Karkarmodel area in Sahibabad and thereby stop all sewage from falling into the storm water drains in the area.

B. Pass an order, thereby, penalizing the concerned Respondents for not complying with the Order, dated: 19.03.2021, passed in the above-titled Original Application."

Having gone through the application considering the submissions advanced by Shr. Akash Vashishtha, Advocate appearing for the applicant, we find that request made in this application goes beyond what has been said in the order of Tribunal dated 19.03.2021.

Even otherwise, we are of the view that in case there is breach of the order passed by Tribunal, the applicant has remedy to file an application under Section 26 of NGT Act, 2010 but for execution under Section 25, we do not find that any case has been made out in this application. It is accordingly, rejected.

The application is disposed of.