Hry pollution board reviews drain, sewage clean-up in Ggm

Haryana's pollution board directed Gurugram officials to create SOPs for cleaning drains and managing wastewater to reduce pollution and enforce regulations.

The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) directed Gurugram civic bodies on Friday to prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) for cleaning stormwater drains and sewerage links, officials said.

GMDA was asked to prepare a standard SOP for drainage cleaning and removal of illegal sewer connections. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

During a meeting chaired by the board’s member secretary, Yogesh Kumar, the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) were instructed to expedite the diversions planned for treated wastewater from Leg III to Leg II to balance flow and reduce pollution in heavily clogged drains and sampling of the existing sewerage treatment plants (STPs) in the district, officials added.

Kumar, while reviewing the ongoing works under the Yamuna Clean Action Plan, said all pending projects must be completed within the stipulated timelines. “A joint sampling of STPs should be conducted again to identify the underutilised plants,” Kumar said, seeking a detailed action taken report (ATR) within two weeks.

GMDA was asked to prepare a standard SOP for drainage cleaning and removal of illegal sewer connections. In January, the authority identified around 53 illegal connections in the stormwater drain’s leg II and III and 14 of these were tapped, officials said, adding that another 39 points are expected to be cut by June.

Akansha Tanwar, regional officer of HSPCB in Gurugram (North), said under phase II, instructions have been given to the civic authorities to identify polluting points through a mapping exercise within three months. “A proper assessment of solid waste being extracted from drains will be carried out and its scientific disposal ensured,” Tanwar said.

Kumar also directed MCG officials to form a special team to step up enforcement against illegal dispersal of wastewater by tankers. “The municipality should seek details of all new tanker registrations in the city,” Kumar added.

The meeting was attended by chief environmental engineer of HSPCB Balraj Ahlawat, MCG chief engineer Vijay Dhaka (nodal officer for Phase I), superintending environmental engineer HSPCB Jatinder Pal, senior manager HSIIDC Sanjay Kumar, ACP (Traffic) Satyapal Yadav and executive engineer GMDA Vikram (nodal officer for Phase II and Phase III), among other senior officials.