The National Green Tribunal has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to “expeditiously" take action and file a compliance report regarding chromium-contaminated effluent from tanneries in Kanpur district being discharged into river Ganga without proper treatment.
A bench headed by chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said that though some progress was achieved on the issue, effluent continued to be let out into the river Ganga through drains and a common effluent treatment plant (CETP).
"The problem is still persisting in absence of adequate action on the part of the State authorities which calls for remedial action in mission mode, including fixing of responsibility of the erring officers for such continuing failure," the bench said.
“Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) needs to monitor remedial measures to prevent pollution from tanneries in a realistic manner (by) issuing guidelines, sealing of drums or pedals, cutting down the production capacities (and) closing the tanneries till compliance is achieved,” the bench said in a recent order.
Noting that river Ganga was being polluted due to untreated or partially treated effluents (sewage and industrial) being discharged through an irrigation canal at Jajmau, an industrial suburb in Kanpur district, the bench said that “the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) needs to ensure that CETP at Jajmau is completed as the already long delay has taken place.”
The bench then said that further action had to be taken expeditiously and a report about the compliance status as on January 31, 2023, be filed before February 15, 2023. The green panel was hearing a matter about the water pollution by tanneries in Kanpur discharging untreated industrial effluents in river Ganga.
(With PTI inputs)
