Ward 99 residents cheer as KMC gets busy restoring pond
When a JCB, deployed by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation moved into action to restore a more-than-half-filled pond this morning, it gave the residents of Ward 99 some ray of hope.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday passed directions to check the release of untreated waste in water bodies and asked state pollution control boards not to allow industrial units to work if they do not have functional primary effluent treatment plants (PETPs).
The directions came on a plea filed by NGO Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti on the issue of pollution in water bodies, including groundwater.
A bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar directed the state pollution control boards (PCBs) to issue a common notice to all industrial units to verify if they have set up PETPs as mandated under the legal provisions.
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The bench, which also comprised Justices D Y Chandrachud and S K Kaul, said on the expiry of a three-month notice period, state PCBs should carry out inspection of the industrial units to ascertain the status of their PETPs.
If industrial units do not have functional PETPs, then they will not be allowed to function any more, the court said.
The bench directed the state PCBs to ask the concerned discoms or electricity supply boards to disconnect the power supply to the defaulting industrial units. It said the industrial units could resume functioning only after they made their PETPs functional.
The apex court also asked the local or municipal authorities to set up Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETP) within three years after acquiring land and completing other formalities.
The states, it said, will have to submit reports with regard to setting up of CETPs to the concerned bench of the National Green Tribunal.
The bench said local civic authorities could formulate norms to levy cess from users if they face financial crunch in running and setting up of CETPs.
Earlier, the apex court had issued notice to the Centre, the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Chief Secretaries of 19 states, including Gujarat.
Initially, the plea was restricted to Gujarat but later its scope was widened by the apex court, which had granted the last opportunity to the states on 16 January to file their responses.
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