SC takes suo moto cognizance on 'pollution of water resources', issues notices to 5 states

The Supreme Court on Wednesday took suo moto cognizance on the issue of pollution of water resources while observing that discharge of non treated or partially treated municipal waste and effluents of various States and cities was the primary reason for the water pollution.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, Justice AS Bopanna and Justice V Ramasubramanian issued a notice on "remediation of polluted rivers" to states governments of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, besides issuing the notice to Central Ministries such as Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Central Board of Pollution Control.

The apex court was hearing a petition filed by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) seeking directions for the Haryana government for ceasing the discharge of untreated effluents resulting in a rise of ammonia levels in river water. The apex court sought the Haryana government's response on DJB's pleas.

"Deterioration of quality of freshwater has a direct correlation with the quality of public health. It is an acknowledged fact that pollution of water supplies by sewage effluents has been and still is a major cause of a variety of diseases and discomforts," the Bench stated in its order.

"Surface water resources such as rivers, ponds and lakes where effluents are discharged from local bodies are highly polluted. Such discharge of human sewage and other pollutants results into deterioration in chemical, physical and biological properties of water. All these processes lead to the degradation of the natural environment," the SC bench said while observing the causes of water pollution.

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The SC bench said that the procedure of setting up Sewage Treatment Plants was implemented with the purpose of prioritising the cities that discharge industrial pollutions and sewer directly in the rivers and water bodies. This system is either not treated through a plant before discharging effluents or the treatment plants do not function adequately, the bench added.

The top court directed the Central Board of Pollution Control to submit a report after identifying municipalities along the river Yamuna, which have not installed total treatment plants for sewage as per the requirement or have gaps in ensuring that the sewage is not discharged untreated into the river.

The court also appointed senior advocate Meenakshi Arora as amicus curiae in the case to assist it in the matter. Advocate Arora appearing for DJB told the Bench that Haryana has been failing to prevent the discharge of effluents in the river water as they lack the required mechanism to treat the water levels.

Arora stated that Yamuna river water is the source of supplying drinking water to major areas in the Delhi and therefore, the rising ammonia levels in the river water are harmful and deadly for the citizens of Delhi.

"When mixed with chlorine, Ammonia will cause cancer and we cannot let the citizens die," Arora said.

The case has now been posted the matter for hearing for January 19.

(with inputs from ANI)

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