To ensure compliance of commercial establishments to meet the effluent standards as prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board that no untreated waste water discharges into the Ganga river and its tributaries, the State programme management group (SPMG), Namami Gange, has initiated the process of inspection of commercial establishments in a phased manner.
The SPMG team comprising technical adviser AK Saxena, senior specialist (environment) Vikrant Tyagi and technical adviser (Indo-German technical cooperation) John Thomas had started the drive from Dehradun earlier about a fortnight ago on receipt of specific complaints.
The officials state that the process of enforcement is also being carried out in close coordination with the National Mission for Clean Ganga and the Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board. The SPMG programme director Raghav langer informed that last week the DIT University, Kasiga School and Pestle Weed College were inspected. Inspection revealed that Pestle Weed College had improper waste water management in violation of specifications as per the CPCB norms and in contravention of the directions given by the high court of Uttarakhand and the National Green Tribunal.
The institution has been served a show cause notice to reply within 15 days and to submit a time bound action plan for ensuring proper sewage management under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. letters are also being issued to DIT University and Kasiga School where some procedural deficiencies were found during the inspection.
The programme director has directed the SPMG technical team to start the inspections from next week in Haridwar and Rishikesh before subsequently conducting the same in other towns in the mountainous regions situated along the main stem of the Ganga.