In what is seen as a ray of hope for 93 polluted villages, constituting the core of Greater Noida, the National Green Tribunal has directed all households/establishments to be connected to the sewers and no wastewater be allowed to go into the ponds therein. The tribunal has inter alia directed that no wastewater be allowed to go into the ponds(one of the biggest ailments of these villages) and remediate them with 3 months and improve their water quality.
- The joint committee, constituted earlier, is directed to monitor compliances to ensure that there is no overflow of sewage in the drains and that it is not discharged into the ponds.
Holding that all 93 villages are part of the urban area, the green court has directed upgradation of the sewerage systems and appropriate charges be collected from the inhabitants.
- Mr. Akash Vashishtha, Advocate and Counsel for the petitioners Karamvir Singh and Pradeep Kumar, submitted that the report admits that there are only 16 faecal sludge removing points for 80 villages, which were by no means, adequate. At least one such point for a cluster of 5 villages must be considered by the Greater Noida Authority.
- “The septage tanks installed by households were unscientific and improper, being next to hand pumps and borewells, giving strong possibility of contamination of the ground water. This must be looked into,” he informed the court.
“The report doesn’t reveal the correct picture. The condition of these villages is critically poor. Streets are perpetually filled with sewage and villagers are continuously battling with pollution,” submitted Mr. Vashishtha.
Accepting all suggestions/submissions made by the Applicants’ counsel, the tribunal directed the agencies to explore decentralised sewerage mechanism with the provision of having one faecal sludge receiving point for each village and the septage management to be monitored by statutory regulators.
The tribunal has directed the GNIDA CEO to remain present during the next hearing with the action taken report.
