Mumbai: Show-cause notices to civic bodies over polluted rivers

The Waldhuni river in Kalyan had turned red due to the chemicals being discharged into it. File pic

The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board has sent a show-cause notice to the Kalyan-Dombivli, Ulhasnagar, Ambernath and Badlapur municipal corporations on Tuesday for not following the Supreme Court's instructions on sewage treatment plants (STP). The SC has ordered municipal corporations to get the sewage treated before it is discharged into rivers. These corporations have allegedly been discharging chemicals and untreated sewage into the rivers directly, polluting them. The MPCB has asked them to state the reasons for not following the instructions or they will take strict action.

The principal secretary, environment department had directed that a committee be formed to verify the compliance of these corporations. The committee visited several locations under these corporations and found many issues.

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Under the jurisdiction of the Badlapur municipal corporation they found 13MLD (million litres per day) domestic influents are released from Panvelkar residential complex and Hendrepada into a nullah without treatment.

The nullah where the sewage treatment plant also discharges untreated water meets the Ulhas river. Under the Ambernath municipal corporation, 6MLD untreated sewage goes into the nullah which further flows into Waldhuni river.

In Kalyan-Dombivli, the municipal corporation has failed to divert eight nullahs to three STPs located near Adharwadi. They have failed to install a new STP with a capacity of 23.5 MLD.

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MPCB officer DB Patil said, "The municipal corporations have been given seven days to submit their answers or else legal action will be taken against them." Ambernath, Ulhasnagar and Badlapur corporation officials refused to talk about the notice, while a Kalyan-Dombivli corporation official, Baban Baraf said, "Our new STP is yet to start because of the residents opposition to it. We are slowly improving our sewage treatment work."

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