After the National Green Tribunal (NGT) asked the Centre not to release funds to the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Governments for cleaning the Ganga from Gomukh to Kanpur without its nod, an expert committee in its report to the green bench has recommended for sending a high-level team to Kanpur to witness the existing condition causing pollution in the river.
The green bench had recently directed both the State Governments to furnish details on the number of teams required for inspecting the seriously polluting industries from Haridwar to Kanpur and apprise it about quantity and quality of discharge generated by them in the river.
It had come down heavily on the lackadaisical approach of officials of the two States for failing to state the causes of the pollution and the locations affected along the course.
The expert committee report, submitted to the NGT, mentioned that all efforts for keeping the river free from pollution has gone in vain as slush and discharge of tanneries and glue factories are being drained into the river regularly. The committee also has members of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.
The report pointed to several glue factories functioning on the bank of the Ganga at Wazidpur. The members of the committee visited the city on January 14.
Brazenly flouting all norms, these factories were polluting the river while the officials of Pollution Control Board looked the other way. The report recommended immediate closure of the factories. Further, Wazidpur drain was also found to be directly discharging its effluent into the river.
It has also exposed the work conducted by the Jal Nigam under JNNRUM project.