Unhappy with the current state of affairs, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday constituted three committees to check and prevent industrial discharge into the Ganga and its tributaries.
A Bench headed by NGT chairperson Swatanter Kumar noted that industrial pollution was being caused mainly by industries in Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.
The Bench constituted principal, implementation and State-level committees to ensure proper implementation of its orders concerning industrial pollution in the Ganga, and also sought a periodic report on the state of affairs as well as reporting of steps taken at the ground level.
The principal committee will have the Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF); Secretary/Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources; Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Haryana, M.P., Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Delhi and West Bengal; chairperson of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB); Joint Secretary/Director of MoEF; and the member Secretaries of respective States. It will also have financial advisor from MoEF and senior representatives of the finance department of the Ministry of Water Resources, dealing with the National Ganga River Basin Authority.
The implementation committee will comprise Chief Secretary of U.P. and West Bengal, Secretary (Environment) of all States, member secretary the CPCB, and member secretaries of all States’ pollution control boards.
The State-level committees will have Secretary (Environment); member secretary, CPCB and State pollution control boards; representatives of local body, urban development, industrial department, water supply and sewage board; scientists from MoEF; and a Professor from any reputed educational institution in the field of environment.
The Bench defined the functions of each of these committees as it ordered that the implementation committee should be responsible for implementation of the orders of the Tribunal and should ensure that a list of polluting industries was brought before the Tribunal and prescribed parameters of effluent discharge were maintained.
The State-level panels will ensure prevention and control of Ganga pollution and compliance of the NGT order in every district. The principal committee will be entitled to suggest policy decisions, have overall control over other committees, and submit a monthly report to NGT.
