We are in an age where climate change awareness has become a key driver in taking action to preserve the environment. Industries and civic bodies are compelled to act responsibly to reduce emissions in their operations and supply chains.
However, the actions of many industries in Gujarat run counter to the values a sustainably conscious body stands for.
A city-based tabloid has reported that the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s (AMC) has issued notices to over 5,000 organisations for failing to meet the pollution-control levels and pumping large amounts of polluted effluent into the Sabarmati River.
The Vibes of India has been reporting extensively on the plight of the Sabarmati, declared the second-most polluted river in India.
Regardless of cleaning activities, Sabarmati presents unflattering numbers. A drone survey recorded high BOD levels of 360 milligrams per litre (mg/L) following storm water drain passing through the Danilimda area. It has recorded levels of 265 mg/L from the outfall of a 60 MLD sewage treatment plant (STP).
The tabloid adds that despite the High Court’s intervention, nothing has changed. The AMC tested seven Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETP), which failed to meet pollution-control standards.
“The GPCB (Gujarat Pollution Control Board) has also been urged to act against the industries that are polluting the Sabarmati. The High Court had taken suo motu cognisance of the issue and has ordered both the AMC and the GPCB to implement a zero[1]discharge policy for the Sabarmati,” an official told the paper.
The official called the situation serious and urged the AMC and the GPCB to initiate remedial measures.
Further, the official claimed that the seven CETP plants that treat the wastewater of different industries are located in the eastern part of the city. Six of those plants are connected to the megaline. Water treated in the CETP plants is released into the Sabarmati River through the megaline.
The treated water from a CETP plant in Narol flows into the river via a separate line.
The AMC treats sewage water from 14 STPs in different places in the city and releases it into the Sabarmati.
The report claimed that some industries in the city continue to bypass the STPs and dump wastewater directly into the river.
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