Joint committee report on industries discharging their effluent into Dhandhera drain upto Jolly road culvert, Muzaffarnagar in compliance of the NGT order, July 21, 2022 (OA 277/2022 Liyakat Ali and Others Vs State of Uttar Pradesh).

Mohd Liyakat Ali and other residents of village Dhandhera, Muzaffarnagar complained to the NGT about pulp and paper mills discharging highly polluted chemical mixed water in the land abutting their land. It was further stated that the drain  was blocked due to negligence of contractors of the Public Works Department (PWD) during construction of a culvert in the drain which has resulted in diversion of industrial waste directly to the agricultural fields of the applicants.

The joint committee comprising officials of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board and the District Administration, Muzaffarnagar visited 14 industries which are discharging their treated effluent into Dhandhera drain in September 2022.

Some of the details of the visit are the following:

• M/s. Silvertoan Papers Ltd. (unit-1) has not submitted the details of fly ash disposal dump site, the industry was not able to provide information regarding preventive measures taken to control fugitive emissions at dump sites. The committee said that while transporting fly ash, the trucks and tractor trolleys were found partially uncovered. Fly ash was being dumped onto the land and not being used for landfilling, thus adding to air pollution.
• M/s. Shree Sidhbali Paper Mills Ltd., was found non compliant in reference of fly ash disposal and disposal of generated plastic waste as per the directions of Air Act 1981.
• M/s. Tehri Pulp & Paper Ltd. (Unit-1) has not submitted the details of fly ash disposal dump site and the industry did not submit details regarding preventive measures to control fugitive emissions.