Report of the Oversight Committee in compliance of National Green Tribunal order passed in O.A. No. 200/2014 in Re: M. C. Mehta Vs Union of India with regard to water quality, untapped drains and status of STPs in Uttar Pradesh.

The Committee had directed the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) to call for a report from the regional officers with regard to quality of water in different parts of river Ganga originating from the state of Uttarakhand, entering into Uttar Pradesh in district Bijnor. A report was submitted by the Chief Environment Engineer, UPPCB, Central Laboratory with respect to the water quality of river Ganga in Uttar Pradesh in the months of January, April, August and December 2019 in different districts from Bijnor to Ghazipur.

The report revealed that in the year 2019, at the place where river Ganga entered district Bijnor, the BOD level was 1.4 (mg/1) and the water quality was B, which was fit for outdoor bathing. At the place Garhmukteshwar, the water quality was C, but when river Ganga entered the territorial jurisdiction of district Kannauj, the water quality changed from C to D with BOD level 3.3 (mg/1). From Bithoor Kanpur to Prayagraj, the water quality of river Ganga remained in category D. The BOD level of river Ganga in Vindhyachal within the territorial jurisdiction of Mirzapur was C which got converted to D after Mirzapur and remained the same in Ghazipur. In Noida, the BOD level of river Yamuna at Gharbara/Filwara, Noida was 50.8 m/1 and the water quality was reported to be E, which can be used for irrigation, industrial cooling and controlled waste disposal.

The BOD level at Vrindavan and Mathura was reported to be of water quality D. More than 50% STPs are not properly functioning and sewage generated from the Lucknow city was directly discharged into river Gomti causing water pollution. The STPs installed are overflowing and no action was being taken by the Water Works Department. Likewise, approximately 33 drains are fallling into river Ganga in district Ghazipur and there was only 1 STP in the district. Similarly, 10 drains in district Varanasi, 32 in Prayagraj, 16 in Mirzapur and 13 in district Kanpur are directly falling into river Ganga.

The NGT had directed that no untreated sewage should be discharged into river Ganga and bio-remediation and phyto-remediation or any other remediation measures should start as an interim measure positively from November 1, 2019, failing which the State would be liable to pay compensation at the rate of Rs. 5 lakhs per month per drain. Since no remediation measures are reported to have taken place, the environmental compensation sould be levied and recovered from the state within a time frame, the report added.

Note: The report was uploaded to the NGT site on June 26, 2020