Dehu Nagar Panchayat must pay Rs14.36 crore fine for sewage discharge into Indrayani river, pollution regulator tells NGT

Time of India

a day ago

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Pune: Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has submitted an affidavit to National Green Tribunal (NGT) stating that Dehu Nagar Panchayat must pay Rs14.36 crore in environmental damage compensation (EDC) for illegally discharging untreated sewage into Indrayani river between April 1, 2020, and Nov 30, 2024.
The NGT bench in Pune had earlier directed MPCB to calculate the EDC to be levied on Dehu Nagar Panchayat for contaminating river water, which resulted in repeated fish kills. This followed the tribunal's principal bench in New Delhi taking suo motu cognisance of a TOI report titled, "Hundreds of fish found dead in Indrayani river at Dehu," published on March 15 this year.
The pollution regulator provided a breakdown of the EDC in its affidavit filed on May 28, which includes cost of bioremediation and setting up of sewage treatment plants (STPs) at Kapur and Ghat Nullahs.
The board, in an affidavit filed at the tribunal on May 28, stated that the EDC is to be levied to prevent discharge of pollutants into Indrayani river, causing harm to the environment.
The board calculated that the panchayat will pay Rs 2.38 crore for bioremediation activities at Ghat Nullah and Rs 2.79 crore for bioremediation at Kapur Nullah. Additionally, the panchayat will also pay Rs 2.38 crore for setting up STP at Ghat Nullah and Rs 2.79 crore for setting up the STP at Kapur Nullah since the panchayat failed to commence the STP in 2020.
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Similarly, for failure to commission the STP in 2021, a total of Rs 3.98 crore was calculated by the board as EDC.
The board sent a notice to Dehu Nagar Panchayat on April 25, informing it about the EDC it had calculated.
The bench directed that notices be issued to Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE) at Andheri in Mumbai, and the Pune district collector and sought their responses.
The matter was then heard by the western bench on Oct 14, 2024.
Dehu Nagar Panchayat's STP was not found functional, which led to pollution of nallahs and discharge of effluent, resulting in fish as big as 45 kg and up to 4 feet in height being found dead.
MPCB stated that officials from the board and from Dehu Nagar Panchayat visited the site on March 14, 2024 and observed that a fish kill occurred at Indrayani river, near Kapur Nalla and at Ghat area on a large scale, as the water was contaminated with sewage found during sample testing. Previously, a fish kill incident occurred at the same location in June 2023.
The final amount to be levied is to be decided in the next hearing to be held at the tribunal.
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