Comments on final report of the Yamuna Monitoring Committee dated June 29, 2020 in the matter of Manoj Mishra Vs Union of India & Others by Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA).

With respect to sewage treatment plant in the catchment area of river Yamuna, GMDA has stated that a sewerage treatment plant with a capacity of 'MLD-162.50 M9LD' has been proposed. The points which are discharging untreated sewage in storm water drains (SWDs) would be plugged by December 31, 2020, but due to COVID-19 lockdown, the target date of diversion of sewage needs to be extended for some points.

Discharge of Dhankot, Bajghera and Dharampur village needs to be diverted and treated, for this, the Development and Panchayat Department of Haryana informed that waste water of village Dharampur would be connected to STP of Clearlon Experts Pvt. Ltd. GMDA has been requested to construct STPs at Dhankot and Bajghera by the Panchayat Department of Haryana.

The recent lockdown due to epidemic of COVID 19 has brought new insights as the BOD parameters of discharge just before the Najafgarh drain have reduced from 43.29 mg/l to 14.39 mg/l, the GMDA said. Same quantum of water supply was still being provided to the residents during the lockdown and GMDA was of the view that "expenditure on Phyto-remediation shall be made judiciously as current scenario clearly reflects that BOD levels are within limits."

It can be concluded that domestic sewage generated during the lockdown was being treated to the desired parameters and existing STPs are working efficiently. Thus, the main sources of pollutants are industries closed during the lockdown contributing to high BOD and COD. The Haryana State Pollution Control Boar should identify the source of contributors of pollution and take action against such polluting units, the report said.