COIMBATORE: National Green Tribunal, southern zone, has directed officials of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to take action against local bodies that discharge untreated sewage into Bhavani river. The tribunal gave the direction on 28 March while closing a suo motu proceeding on the issue.
The green tribunal took suo-motu notice in 2017 based on media reports that said Bhavani water was found to be unfit for consumption as local bodies along the river, including Mettupalayam municipality, have allegedly been discharging sewage into the water body.
Apart from Mettupalayam, four other local bodies – Thekkampatty Village Panchayat, Jadyampalayam
Village Panchayat, Odanthurai Village Panchayat, and Sirumugai town Panchayat are located along the river.
“It will be impossible for this tribunal to monitor implementation in a perpetual manner and hence, TNPCB officials should take action against local bodies which do not comply,” said Justice K Ramakrishnan and expert member Satyagopal Korlapati.
TNPCB has also been directed to continue monitoring industrial units and the quality of Bhavani water periodically. If there is any contamination or pollution found, the polluter must be traced and action initiated against them in accordance with the law. When contacted, TNPCB officials said they have yet to receive the NGT order and that they can comment only after receiving it.
Former Mettupalayam Municipality chairman D Satheesh Kumar (2011-2016), who impleaded in the case, told TNIE, “Sewage has been let into the Bhavani for last ten years till date. When I was chairman in 2013, we surveyed the river and found sewage was flowing in at 25 locations. The municipality claimed in its affidavit in May 2020 that the sewage flow would be solved once the Underground Drainage works (UGD) and Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) works, initially scheduled to be done by June 2021, are completed. But the works are still not implemented.”
An official of the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD Board) said UGD work would be completed in the next few months and that they had been waiting for the Mettupalayam Municipality to provide connections to 750 houses. The Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) is likely to be commissioned in June, he said.
The official said the work was delayed due to Covid-19. Further, the official claimed that all the households in the municipality had installed septic tanks and so, the sewage water was not being discharged into the Bhavani River.
Municipality Commissioner Vinoth admitted that the local sewage was discharged into the river at a few places and that the issue would be solved UGD and STP works are completed. Joint committee headed by the district collector already inspected the area to check whether these local bodies and private companies located along the Bhavani river have been discharging sewage water and effluent water respectively.