NGT notice to Uttarakhand, Jharkhand over untreated sewage polluting Ganga
NGT has also directed the National Mission for Clean Ganga to file an affidavit disclosing the status of funding for the establishment of sewer lines and sewage treatment plants in Jharkhand
New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal has sought reasons as to why sewage treatment plants (STPs) remain non-functional and effluents continue to pollute Ganga in Uttarakhand and Jharkhand. It has also sought a plan for how wastewater will be treated before releasing into Ganga, until STPs start functioning.
NGT was hearing an application by MC Mehta against Union of India, in which the Tribunal is considering the issue of preventing and controlling pollution in Ganga. In the case of Uttarakhand, a compliance affidavit submitted by Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board (UKPCB) disclosed that “most of the STPs are not complying with the norms and were frequently found non-operational.”
This is particularly important because the Jal Shakti ministry had informed Lok Sabha in March that faecal coliform levels met the bathing quality criteria in the entire stretch of Ganga in Uttarakhand and Jharkhand and certain stretches of UP, Bihar and West Bengal. Further, the ministry had informed that as per Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report on the Polluted River Stretches (PRS) on river Ganga, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand do not fall under polluted stretches. Ganga’s Uttarakhand stretches near its origin and further downstream are considered pristine compared to stretches in other states.
“Learned Counsel representing the UKPCB, referring to a notice dated 09.04.2025, has submitted that the direction under Section 33A of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, has been issued to the Managing Director of Uttarakhand Pey Jal Nigam and the General Manager of Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan regarding noncompliance with the norms by the STPs, and requiring them to show cause as to why cognizance of the offence under Section 49(A) of the Water Act should not be taken and a complaint should not be filed,” the NGT order dated April 16 and uploaded on April 22, states.
Further, UKPCB submitted that if, within one month, a satisfactory reply is not received, the complaint will be filed against those officers in Uttarakhand Pey Jal Nigam and Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan.
The UKPCB will also disclose in the next affidavit the reason for non-functioning of STPs and the reason for not complying with the norms.
In the same matter, NGT also considered the state of STPs in Jharkhand.
In compliance with NGT’s earlier orders, District Magistrates had filed status reports of STPs in Ramgarh, Bokaro, Sahebgunj and Dhanbad.
“On the perusal of the status report filed by the District Magistrate, Ramgarh, we find that in Nagar Parishad Ramgarh, the sewage generation is 17880 KLD, but no STP exists and status of sewage-line has also not been disclosed. So far as the Cantonment Board, Ramgarh is concerned, there is no sewage-line and there is also no STP. Meaning thereby the entire untreated sewage directly or indirectly is flowing to the River Ganga. Almost same is the status in respect of districts Bokaro, Sahebgunj and Dhanbad,” the NGT order dated April 16 said.
NGT recollected that in a Supreme Court order in 2017, the apex court had directed that the STPs be set up within three years of the judgment and the Secretary, Environment was made accountable for the same.
“Since there is non-compliance with the aforementioned order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and neither the work of laying down the sewage line nor the establishment of the STP has been effectively carried out until now, we therefore require the Secretary of Environment, State of Jharkhand, to file an affidavit explaining the reasons for the noncompliance with the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and also the timeline for compliance in each of the districts and for each of the drains existing therein,” NGT said.
The Secretary of Environment will also disclose the system that will be adopted in the meantime until the sewage lines are constructed and the STPs are set up and operationalised. Additionally, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) is required to file an affidavit disclosing the status of funding for the establishment of the sewer line and STPs in Jharkhand, NGT has directed.
