CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has directed presence of secretaries of the municipal corporations of Bhubaneswar, Rourkela and Sambalpur over discharge of untreated sewage and polluting effluents into the rivers within their jurisdiction.
While issuing notices, the division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice RK Pattanaik directed the secretaries to remain present online on the next date of hearing on April 8.The bench said, “The secretaries of the three corporations shall inform the court of the steps taken for installation of sewage treatment plants and complying with the norms specified by the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) regarding discharge of effluents into the rivers within their respective jurisdictions.”
‘The Orissa Water Supply and Sewerage Board (OWSSB) will inform the court on the next date the current status of completion of the 16 MLD sewage treatment plant at Matagajapur in Cuttack. A representative of the OWSSB shall remain present on the next date in the court,’ the bench directed.The court was hearing a PIL on pollution of Kathajodi river due to unchecked discharge of untreated sewage from Cuttack city at Khan Nagar, when the situation of other major civic bodies was brought to its notice.
State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) member secretary Kailasam Murugesan on Monday filed an affidavit indicating the deteriorating water quality in the downstream of major urban local bodies such as Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Rourkela due to discharge of partially treated or untreated domestic waste water into river bodies.
The affidavit said there are 129 stations of the SPCB that are monitoring the water quality of 11 major river systems of the State - Mahanadi, Brahmani, Baitarani, Rushikulya, Nagavali, Subarnarekha, Budhabalanga, Vansadhara, Kolab, Indravati and Bahuda. According to the affidavit the National Green Tribunal (NGT), Principal Bench, New Delhi had passed an order concerning the remedial action for 351 polluted river stretches in India.