IN
THE HON’BLE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
*********
CIVIL
MISC. WRIT PETITION NO. 4003 OF 2006
(Under
Article 226 of the Constitution of India)
DISTRICT,
ALLAHABAD
Harchetan Branhchari Ji Mahraj,
Sri Paramnand Ashram, Teakar
Mafi,Amathi, District Sultanpur at Present Residing at Jhoosi, Post Jhoosi,
Dist. Allahabad
………………………………………………………………….Petitioner.
Versus
1.
State of U. P. through Secretary,
Environment,
Government of U. P.
Secretariat,
Lucknow (U. P.)
2.
The Commissioner, Allahabad Division,
Allahabad.
3.
The Collector, Allahabad, Dist.
Allahabad.
4.
The Mala Officer Incharge, Magh Mela,
Allahabad.
5.
State Board for Prevantation and
control of water
Pollution
through its Chairmen ……………………..Respondents
To,
The Hon’ble The Chief Justice and his
Lordship’s other companion Judges of this Hon’ble Court.
The humble application of the
applicant submits the report in the matter of Ganga Pollution as under:-
Ganga assumed pre-eminent sacred stature
The Ganga assumed preeminent sacred stature
and the lore of its water's purifying and healing powers waterfalled through
Hindu history. The high country Ganga deep in the granite folds of the
Himalayas still runs with its emerald color of purity and cleanliness. But down
in the factory-laden and urbanized plains the Ganga runs brownish pea-green
with silt and pollution: sewage, industrial waste and corpses. To tackle the
pollution, experts are farming giant snapping turtles to eat corpses, building
massive sewage treatment plants and sewage diversion systems, and getting tough
with polluting businesses.
Ganges Action Plan in 1986
Prime Minister
Rajiv Gandhi brewed up the Ganges Action Plan in 1986, pouring US$ 140 million
into one of the most demanding river-cleanup projects undertaken in the world.
The goal is to make the river's 1,568-mile length visually and chemically clean
enough for fearless sacred bathing and other nonpolluting river activity.
Kanpur Pollution
The major polluting industries on the Ganges River are the leather industries, especially near Kanpur, which use large amounts of chromium and other chemicals, and much of it finds its way
into the meager flow of the Ganga. Unfortunately, this is a boom time for
leather processing in India, which many view as
a form of eco-environmental dumping on the third world, and with the lax and
lubricable implementation systems of the Uttar Pradesh government, it does not seem
likely that this will go down.
The industrial city of Kanpur
The industrial
city of Kanpur has been named the seventh most polluted city in the
world.Kanpur, which it said fares worst among all Indian cities, was followed
by Kitakyushu in Japan, Indonesian capital Jakarta and Chinese city of
Xiangshan. A survey in 2004 had found Kanpur was the most polluted city in
India after Raipur, Jharia and Jalandhar, but in two years, due to a burgeoning
population and increasing number of diesel-run vehicles it had surged to the
top of the list. The growing population of the city, it said, was one of the
chief reasons for the worsening air condition. While the average population
growth in the country between 1991 to 2001 was 21.3 percent, Kanpur had
registered 32.5 percent. In the next five years the numbers would increase by
another five lakh, it said.Transport vehicles and generators using diesel were
adding to air pollution, while sewage water and waste from tannaries was
polluting river Ganga.City residents faced a range of problems from respiratory
diseases and from drinking the river water, the report said.Converting diesel
vehicles to run on compressed natural gas could help lower air pollution in the
near future, the magazine said while lauding the steps taken by the residents
of the city. .
The industrial effluents
The industrial
effluents generated by upstream towns aggravate Kanpur’s drinking water
problem. In Kanpur, 350-odd leather-making units add to the pollution of the
holy river. Resultantly, further down, Allahabad gets more toxic water. A
beeline of gastro enteritis patients at Kanpur hospitals and the growing ire of
the saints at Allahabad made the authorities concerned take stock of the state
of affairs.
60 tanneries in
Jajmau
There are 60
tanneries in Jajmau which will be covered under joint effluent disposal. The
total production is to the tune of 12,000 hides with a total discharge of 5
million litres per day in the year of 1987 . The State Government has taken
appropriate steps in preparation of the feasibility report under the guidance
of U. P. Pollution Control Board. This proposal was also supported by Central
Pollution Control Board, Delhi by sharing the total fee of Rs. 80,000 to be
paid to the Public Health Engineering Consultancy, Bombay which has prepared
the report with the help of IIt, Bombay. The report suggests that each tannery
should make arrangement for the primary treatment of their effluent and then it
will be discharged into common treatment plant. Residents
and local corporators in Kanpur were on warpath as the taps in many localities
of this industrial town supplied black, brown, yellow stinking water. In
Allahabad, the sadhu fraternity refused to take a holy dip on Mauni Amawasya
enraged at government’s callousness to check pollution in Ganga whose water
they said was no longer fit for religious ritual. The report shows pathetic
condition prevailing at Kanpur. After perusing the report, we find that
Burihaghat at Jajmau is one of the worst affected areas, where the river Ganga
is being polluted. The report further shows that in Burihaghat at jajmau, there
are two glue factories with huge boilers, flesh and leather-remains as
ingredients and goat and other animals tails serving as fuel in the open, right
at the ghat, which portrays the pathetic state of Ganga. Entied ghat is strewn
with leather remains, boiled and crushed up products of the glue factories,
mounds and animals' carcasses, tannery effluents spread all over the ghat near
Ganga. The report further mentions that a couple of tanneries discharge their
waste products directly at the ghat, which is ultimately washed off into Ganga.
There may be direction for shifting of the locations of the Tannaries to other
location.
The world bank report 1992
The world bank
report 1992, which focussed on the environmental issues, mentions the
dissolved-oxygen and riverborne decomposing material at two points on the
Ganga. That in the case of Jajmau, Kanpur, the committee visited few tanneries
where the effort has been made to have primary treatment of the effluent before
it is discharged to the common drain/the river Ganga.
Distilleries, paper, sugar mills and chemical
units in Meerut, Rampur, Gajraula Industrial Estate, Moradabad, Bulandsahar
There are distilleries, paper, sugar mills and chemical units
in Meerut, Rampur, Gajraula Industrial Estate, Moradabad, Bulandsahar and other
towns of Western Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal which discharge their highly
contaminated, multi-coloured waste into the Ram Ganga and Kali rivers, the
tributaries of Ganga which meet it in the upstream of KanpurTaking strong note of the situation, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) took samples of the Ganga water at various locations. It was found that the oxygen level in Ram Ganga at Farrukhabad was 0.4 milligram per litre due to which shoals of fish were dying. The CPCB has pointed out that Ram Ganga and Kali are polluted owing to the untreated industrial waste discharged by paper factories, distilleries and other chemical units which have turned the river water black and yellow. Similarly, the Mayor of Kanpur alleges that most upstream districts have closed their treatment plants and so the impact can be seen in the city’s drinking water. Interestingly, the CPCB officials saw deep yellow water in Ram Ganga river in Haldwani district of Uttranchal. However, instead of taking any action against the erring units, the Uttaranchal authorities have washed their hands off the problem.
The Uttar Pradesh (UP) government has directed the district magistrates of Farrukhabad, Meerut and Moradabad to initiate action against the sugar mills and distilleries. Already, the cash-starved Kanpur Jal Sansthan (Water Works) is spending Rs 50,000 extra everyday in purification of highly polluted raw water from Ganga. Acting General Manager and Secretary of Jal Sansthan RS Tiwari said that unless the pollutants are tapped from being released in the mainstream, the Sansthan will face a financial crunch and may be forced to stop water purification process. Sources say that the Jal Sansthan has been, of late, using alum and liquid chlorine at the rate of 80 to 90 kgs in place of 20 to 30 kgs per hour. Jal Sansthan authorities opine that the effluents released in the upstream would impact the raw water source of Kanpur for many days. Even if the pollutants released upstream are tapped today, it would take at least five days before Kanpur’s tryst with contaminated water ends.
Compulsion to declare river Ganga as reserve / protected forest
That there is the need and compulsion to
declare river Ganga as reserve / protected forest in view of the decision of
the Hon’ble Supreme Court and also in view of fact that the definition of
forest under forest (conservation) Act, 1980 and the Wild Life Protection Act,
which provides for the protection the
forest area and the wild life animals which are at the stage of extinction in
our nation. There are broad vistas for the enhancement of environmental quality
and the creation of a good life. What is needed is an enthusiastic but clam
state of mind and intense but orderly work. For the purpose of attaining
freedom in the world of nature, man mist use knowledge of build in
collaboration with nature a better environment. To defend and improve the human
environment for present and future generation has become an imperative goal for
mankind – a goal to be pursued together with, and in harmony with, the established
and fundamental goals of peace and o We are also
requesting the court to declare 200 metre of area on both sides of the banks as
a No
Development Zone and the same be transferred to the forest
department for afforestation and the involvement of the affected communities
for carrying out the afforestation. In fact. We are proposing that in the
entire Ganga cleaning programme, wherever manual labour is required, the
affected communities and displaced people should be accorded priority in
providing employment.
Varanasi Pollution
More than 175 MLD city sewage mixed
with toxic industrial effluents is generated at Varanasi. The Jal Nigam has
established Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) for the treatment of only 122 MLD
(100 MLD at Dinapur STP + 10 MLD at Bhagwanpur STP + 12 MLD at DLW). About 53
million liter per day (MLD) untereated sewage mixed with toxic industrial
effluents containing acids, alkalis, heavy metals e.g. lead, Cadmium, Nickel
etc. are directly discharged into the river Ganga by the Nagar Nigam Varanasi. JAI NIGAM’S SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANTS (STP):
Not effective for the treatment of sewage of sewage generated at Varanasi
(Sewage mixed with toxic industrial effluents) due to following: No toxic heavy metal can be completely
removed by these existing STP. The Jal Nigam has accepted this fact. Chief
Environment Officer, UP Pollution Control Board produced a letter to this
effect before the Hon’ble High Court on August 20th 1998, during my
presentation of low cost effluent treatment technology to the Saree Printing
Industries. Since these STP does remove toxic metals and so-called treated
water is used for the irrigation of crop fields there are possibilities for
accumulation of these toxic metals in the food grains and vegetables.
BIOLOGICAL MAGNIFICATION
Due to process of BIOLOGICAL
MAGNIFICATION persistent chemicals may accumulate in the soil and reaches to
the body of human and animals through plants leading health hazard in the
surrounding areas. In the name of manuredry sludge (Which contain toxic metals)
is being sold by the JAL NIGAM to the ignorant farmers and without knowing
adverse effects the contaminated sludge is being used for maturing the crop and
vegetable plants.
Storage created will be available for
agricultural use
That the storage created will be
available for agricultural use during the scarcity period of Non-Monsoon. The
Storage can be utilized for rapid industrialization of backward and other
regions as water can be used for industries, Power station etc. This will help
in the general up-liftment of the masses and will ensure adequate drinking
water, supplies. The effect of pollution can be controlled by regulating flow
in river. This will boost tourism by way of developing picnic spot around the
reservoirs. The reservoirs can be used for developing fisheries. As a
substantial part of the discharge in the river will be stored and used during
monsoon period, it will go a logway in controlling floods downstream.
|
Sl. No.
|
Site of Proposal
|
Useful Storage to be available in
Million Cubic meter
|
|
1.
|
Barrage No. 1 on river Ganga at 295 Kilometer
downstream of Allahabad near Village Zamania in District Ghazipur.
|
1335
|
|
2.
|
Barrage No. 2 on river Ganga at 100 Kilometer
downstream of Allahabad near Village Gaipura in Mirzapur District.
|
1507
|
|
3.
|
Barrage No. 3 on river Ganga at 40 Kilometer downstream
of Allahabad near Village Kokhraj in Allahabad District.
|
130
|
|
4.
|
Barrage No. 4 on river Ganga at 90 Kilometer upstream
of Allahabad near Village Kalakankar in Pratapgarh District.
|
411
|
|
5.
|
Barrage No. 5 on river Ganga at 130 Kilometer upstream
of Allahabad near Village Bitaura in Fatehpur District.
|
238
|
|
6.
|
Barrage No. 6 on river Ganga at 210 Kilometer upstream
of Allahabad near Kanpur.
|
88
|
|
7.
|
Barrage No. 7 on river Ganga at 230 Kilometer upstream
of Allahabad near Unnao.
|
39
|
|
8.
|
Barrage No. 8 on river Ganga at 250 Kilometer upstream
of Allahabad near Kannauj.
|
52
|
|
9.
|
Barrage No. 9 on river Ganga at 430 Kilometer upstream
of Allahabad in Farrukhabad.
|
156
|
|
10.
|
Barrage No. 10 on river Ganga at 430 Kilometer upstream
of Allahabad in District Etah.
|
128
|
|
11.
|
Barrage No. 11 on river Ganga at 465 Kilometer upstream
of Allahabad in District Etah.
|
134
|
That the evaporation losses are
estimated by pan evaporation method with the assumption that about 25% of these
losses would be controlled by adopting suitable control method preferably
chemical method.
That an assessment of minimum
available discharge in the river is made on the basis of 10 daily discharge
data at 75% dependability of Kharif crops areas are limited to the extent of
minimum discharge so available. The discharge is excess of minimum discharge
will be allowed to flow downstream or to fill up the pond. Thus uniform
supplies for Kharif irrigation in the period of June to October can be assured.
Generally it is observed that irrigation can be achieved to a great extent
during Rabi and Kharif with the available supplies from barrages.
Excessive poaching of these innocent
aquatic animals
That excessive poaching of these
innocent aquatic animals by fishermen for the want of their flesh and oil has
created threat to their existence and they are now at the brink of extinction,
particularly at Allahabad. Whereas about 20 year back they were found in
abundance in between Sangam and Sirsa Ghat. This water course, where the river
Tones joins the Ganga provide an ideal breeding ground for these animals.
Disappearance of Dolphin from the Ganga river is a biological indicator of
pollution as well as it also suggest that our population particularly of the
fishermen’s community is exceeding the carrying capacity of the river.
Yogesh Kumar Saxena
Advocate High
Court
Special
Officer on Ganga Pollution Case
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