The Hindu : CPCB steps in to check Ganga pollution

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 22, 2003

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CPCB steps in to check Ganga pollution

By Our Staff Correspondent

NEW DELHI FEB. 21. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has voiced its concern over pollution in the Ganga. Taking a cue from the `sadhus' who recently refused to take the traditional holy dip at the Sangam (the confluence of the Ganga, the Jamuna and the mythical Saraswati), the CPCB has now directed the Pollution Control Boards of Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal to monitor pollution levels in the Ganga and its tributaries on a weekly basis.

In the directive, signed by the CPCB Chairman, the State boards have been asked to file their first compliance report within a fortnight. They have also been asked to ensure that effluents from industries located along the Ganga and its tributaries were not discharged into it during the non-monsoon months. In the rainy season, the effluents could be discharged but only if they complied with the prescribed norms.

The directive was sent after the CPCB and the two State boards conducted a detailed survey and monitored the quality of water along the two major tributaries of the Ganga — Kali and Ramganga — between February 2 and 5, which showed that municipalities and industries continued to discharge untreated or partially-treated effluents and sewage.

Another joint survey and monitoring conducted in an around Kanpur on January 28 and 29 yielded a similar result. A public interest litigation petition has been filed in the Allahabad High Court seeking a mandamus directing the authorities to take urgent steps to check pollution.

The District Magistrates of Allahabad and Kanpur, the Uttar Pradesh PCB, the State Chief Secretary and the Secretary to the Urban Development Department have been named in the petition filed by Guru Bachchan Das, mahant of Kabir Ashram at Allahabad.

Religious leaders have alleged that only 50 per cent of the industries had adopted the necessary measures required under the Ganga Action Plan, initiated 15 years ago.

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