Green Tribunal Fines Prayagraj DM for Polluting Ganga and Yamuna

The National Green Tribunal has fined the Prayagraj District Magistrate Rs 20,000 for failing to comply with a previous order to report on sewage pollution in the Ganga and Yamuna. The tribunal noted that untreated sewage could lead to insufficient clean water during the upcoming Kumbh Mela.

The National Green Tribunal has imposed a Rs 20,000 fine on the district magistrate of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh for not complying with its earlier order to file a report on pollution of the Ganga and the Yamuna rivers.

The green tribunal was hearing a petition, according to which, the discharge of sewage water in the Ganga and the Yamuna in Prayagraj could result in the insufficiency of clean water during the upcoming Kumbh Mela.

A bench of National Green Tribunal Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava noted a report by the National Mission for Clean Ganga about 160 million litres per day (MLD) of sewage being discharged into the two rivers in Prayagraj.

The bench, also comprising Judicial Member Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and Expert Member A Senthil Vel, said the tribunal had earlier formed a panel with the district magistrate as the nodal agency and directed it to submit a report after inspecting the district's drains and sewage treatment plants.

It noted that the tribunal granted an additional six weeks to the district magistrate in March for submitting the report.

In an order passed on Tuesday, the tribunal said, ''Even within the extended period of six weeks, no report was filed and we are informed that some report has been filed yesterday evening which is lying in defect.'' ''Such a conduct of the district magistrate, Prayagraj, has resulted in not only non-compliance of the order of the tribunal but also permitting flowing of untreated sewage into (the) Ganga and (the) Yamuna without any appropriate action for a long time and resulting to deterioration in water quality,'' it added.

The green panel then imposed a cost of Rs 20,000 on the district magistrate. The fine has to be deposited within two weeks.

The tribunal also allowed submissions of the district magistrate's counsel, seeking two weeks to cure the defect in the report so that it could be taken on record.

The matter has been posted to July 1 for further proceedings.

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