Taking cognizance of the news report on the Sabarmati being the second most polluted river in India according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Gujarat high court on Friday directed the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) to place before it the CPCB report.
The bench of Chief Justice Sonia Gokani and Justice Vaibhavi Nanavati asked GPCB to supply the report of the central body, which was placed before the parliament by the Union ministry of Jal Shakti.
The report said that the Cooum river in Tamil Nadu is the most polluted, followed by the Sabarmati. It revealed that the stretch of Sabarmati between Raysan village in Gandhinagar and Vautha village had a biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of 292 mg/l.
The report is a cause of concern because two years ago, the HC undertook an exercise to curb pollution in Sabarmati and to rejuvenate it. After getting various government agencies to pull up its socks, the high court ensured that the pollution of the river was mitigated to some extent.
As the bench discussed the CBCP report, advocate Hemang Shah, the amicus curiae in the case, submitted that it is not possible for this generation to reap fruits of the exercise to clean the river, and probably the next generation will benefit from it.
Meanwhile, the HC also sought a report on the desilting to be undertaken by the Ahmedabad Mega Clean Association (AMCA) of its Mega pipeline, which has been laid to carry trade affluents to the Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) and then to the river.
AMCA said that it has kept in abeyance Ashima Ltd’s request for a connection to the pipeline to release its effluent. The court also discussed the operational cost of zero liquid discharge facility.
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