NGT questions sewage plant inside Ridge; seeks reply from DJB, DPCC, DDA

According to DPCC’s August 4 report, a fresh inspection of Macchli Talab showed the pond’s water quality parameters failed to meet permissible standards

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has given the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) four weeks to explain how a decentralised sewage treatment plant (DSTP) was allowed to be built at Smriti Van in Vasant Kunj, part of the South Central Ridge.

The forest falls under DDA’s jurisdiction, similar to Sanjay Van, while DJB maintains and runs the DSTP there (HT Archive)

The directive follows a DPCC submission earlier this week that it had issued a show cause notice of ₹10 lakh to DJB for failing to maintain the DSTP, leading to contamination of the Macchli Talab water body.

“We have also found that DSTP has been set up inside the park, i.e., Smriti Van. “The Applicant also submits that it has been set up inside the ridge area,” a bench headed by NGT chairperson justice Prakash Shrivastava observed in its August 6 order. The bench questioned, “The question arises as to how the Consent To Establish (CTE) for setting up a DSTP in a park or ridge area has been given. DJB is permitted to place on record its application for a grant of CTE to ascertain if it was disclosed in the application that DSTP was proposed in the park or ridge area.”

According to DPCC’s August 4 report, a fresh inspection of Macchli Talab showed the pond’s water quality parameters failed to meet permissible standards. The total suspended solids (TSS) were at 27 mg/l against the standard of 10 mg/l or less; biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) at 18 mg/l against 10 mg/l or less; chemical oxygen demand (COD) at 52 mg/l against 50 mg/l or less; and ammonical nitrogen at 5.45 mg/l against 5 mg/l or less.

DPCC stated it issued a show cause notice to DJB under the “Polluter Pays” principle, giving it 15 days to explain why environmental compensation of ₹10 lakh should not be imposed. “Now therefore, in view of the above and various orders passed by the Hon’ble National Green Tribunal regarding the imposition or levying of environmental compensation on violators, keeping in view the ‘polluter pays’ principle, the Member Drainage, Delhi Jal Board, is hereby called upon to show cause as to why environmental compensation of ₹10 lakh should not be imposed,” the report noted.

Earlier this year, the tribunal had also observed that DJB’s DSTP in the area was operational without a valid Consent to Operate.

Smriti Van, part of the south-central Ridge, spans 34.51 acres between Sector A-Pocket B and C in Vasant Kunj. The forest falls under DDA’s jurisdiction, similar to Sanjay Van, while DJB maintains and runs the DSTP there.

The case stems from a September 2022 plea by a local resident Amit Aggarwal before NGT, alleging that large parts of Smriti Van had been concretised in violation of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. NGT had subsequently sought details of the water body and its status.