Indrayani river pollution: MPCB initiates legal action against three local bodies

The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has initiated legal action against three local bodies including the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), Talegaon-Dabhade Municipal Council and Wadgaon Nagar Panchayat for polluting the Indrayani, Pawana and Mula rivers. As part of the action, the board on Tuesday, July 2, issued prosecution notice to the three local bodies asking them to submit a response within 15 days.

According to the notice, the Wadgaon Nagar Panchayat and Talegaon-Dabhade Municipal Council are discharging through a nearby nullah three and 19 MLD of untreated sewage water, respectively. The local bodies have failed to provide sewage treatment plants (STPs) to treat 100% domestic effluent, causing pollution in the rivers. The PCMC too is discharging untreated domestic effluent into the rivers. It has not provided uninterrupted power supply to all the STPs. It has not completed the work of laying interceptor lines along the rivers to collect untreated domestic effluent. Moreover, the corporation has not upgraded/designed STPs for BOD 10 mg/l to achieve permitted standards. It has also failed to submit a time-bound programme for the upgradation of STPs.

The MPCB has issued prosecution notice to the three local bodies under sections 44, 24, 25 and 26 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. Ravindra Andhale, regional officer, MPCB, said, “Untreated domestic effluent is a major source of pollution in the rivers in Pune district. Despite giving multiple opportunities, the local bodies have failed to provide an effective and time-bound plan to curb the pollution issue. Hence, the prosecution notice was issued today. We have also asked the local bodies to provide a corrective plan within 15 days else they will be prosecuted as per the law.”

Pollution in rivers has become a cause for concern and citizens, volunteers and people working for river conservation have expressed disappointment with the authorities for neglecting river pollution. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has taken suo moto action and registered cases based on issues such as appearance of foam and death of a large number of fish in the rivers. The MPCB on its part has issued several notices and visited various STPs, collecting water samples from various river locations. Despite providing multiple opportunities, local bodies have failed to implement effective measures to curb pollution in these rivers. Recently, chief minister Eknath Shinde and member-secretary of the MPCB Avinash Dhakne assured citizens that the government will make all efforts to clean the Indrayani River. Just two days later, the MPCB has issued prosecution notice to the three local bodies.