Worried over the hazardous environment in Odisha’s most-visited town of Puri, the National Green Tribunal has asked the State Government to take immediate steps to correct the mistakes being committed since centuries.
The NGT, in its order to the State Government, has asked it for formation of a committee headed by the Chief Secretary and submit its report to the NGT. The direction was issued basing on a report of the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB).
OSPCB experts who visited Puri on July 25 and 26, in its report revealed alarming facts. A report of analysis of water samples at Pejanallah shows that the wastewater of the outlet of Pejanallah releases lord Jagannath Temple’s Rosasala (kitchen) discharges into the municipal drain. The water quality parameters are not only beyond the prescribed ones but show devastating results.
The report also stated that the air quality is affected since smoke from the cremation ground Swargadwar is carried along by the strong sea breeze and gets trapped in the buildings in the vicinity.
Out of the municipal solid waste (MSW), plastics in the form of polythene, pet bottles and carry bags comprise a major portion of the waste. The percentage of plastics in the waste has been assessed at 50 per cent in terms of volume.
The report on water samples at the Baliapanda municipal waste ground also shows that the parameters are in much excess of the prescribed ones.
In the concluding part of the report, the inspecting team has noticed that the present sewage collection, treatment and disposal system at Bankimuhan is practically defunct. The present solid waste collection treatment and disposal practice at Pejanallah is inadequate and the efforts made by the Puri Municipality are unsatisfactory in this regard.
The burning of multiple bodies side by side and the smoke and odour create nuisance at the Swargadwar.The sewage drain and urban solid waste management is also stated to be a most critical issue at Puri and it must be urgently addressed by the authorities.
“We expect all the authorities, including the OSPCB to take appropriate steps to restore the environment as well to prevent further degradation of the environment,” the NGT said.
It has been brought to the NGT’s notice that due to the recent Phailin cyclone, water from the sea tides even reached the first floor of some of the hotels which are within the CRZ (Costal Regulation Zone) and blocked the entire road with sand by 10 feet at some places. This shows the devastating effect of infringement of CRZ norms and the danger apprehended to human life and property, the NGT observed.
The NGT said the Chief Secretary would be the chairperson of the committee which shall consist of the Secretary of Environment and Forests, the Member-Secretary of OSPCB, the Secretary of Public Health, a representative from the lord Jagannath Temple, the Puri Municipality Chairman and two experts, one to be nominated by the Union MoEF and the other by the State Government from the field of environment.
This committee shall visit Puri to examine all the environmental issues that have been more specifically stated by the applicant in its petition as well as in the report of the OSPCB, the tribunal said.
This Committee shall also suggest various means and the methods that are to be adopted for preventing and controlling the pollution i.e. air, water solid wastes and environment in the entire city of Puri more particularly from the Swargadwar and the lord Jagannath Temple.
The committee shall more specifically state the measures that are required to be taken for collection and treatment of sewage and garbage and its disposal in accordance with law and in a time-bound programme. It shall state what immediate steps should be taken for betterment of environment including providing stacks for all major cooking chulhas in the temple and cremation ground, the NGT said.
“The committee shall report to the tribunal about the unauthorised constructions raised on the seashore and which constructions are within 500 m from the high tide line falling within the CRZ regulation,” the order said.
The committee shall also report as to how many unauthorised constructions exist in the CRZ and within 500 m of high tide line and what actions the State Government has taken against such violators.
A plant should be established and the methods that should be adopted for disposal of biomedical waste including bones and other body part remnants after cremation of the human body should be initiated, the NGT said.