The Times of India 19.04.2013
Boards along river to warn polluters of penal action
NASHIK: The Bombay high court on Thursday asked the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) to put up boards along the Godavari river to warn people that those polluting the river would face penal action in the form of imprisonment or fine.
The high court had, in the past, directed the civic body to erect
warning boards declaring the water in the river to be unfit for
drinking.
Virodhi Manch, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) that had filed a
public interest litigation (PIL) against government officials for the
river pollution, to send a notice to the National Environmental
Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to be present on May 6 for the
next hearing.
NEERI has been officially appointed by the court
to give solutions on Maharashtra Pollution Control Board’s (MPCB)
suggestions to the municipal body to control pollution.
The
court also asked the MPCB to list all the problems associated with the
river and its expectations from the civic body and had it over to NEERI
so that it could provide relevant solutions.
The MPCB’s
expectations from the civic body include maintaining the quality and the
wholesomeness of the river water, proper drainage system, to have
continuous flow of the river, etc. When the MPCB pointed out that the
municipal body had started collecting the pooja material from the river
with the help of boats, the court directed the NMC to adopt alternate
measures to clean the river.
“From our point of view, the
quality of water should be as per the specifications. The Godavari river
comes under class II category, according to which, the biochemical
oxygen demand (BOD) in the river should not exceed 5mg/litre and
dissolved oxygen (DO) should not be less than 4 mg /litre. The NEERI has
to suggest measures that need to be taken to maintain the quality of
water in the river,” one of the petitioners, Rajesh Pandit said.
The court also asked the civic body to put up boards by the riverside
warning that penal action (imprisonment or fine) would be taken against
those polluting the river.
The PIL was heard by justices Abhay
Oke and Mrudula Bhatkar. Pravarthak Pathak appeared on behalf of the
petitioners, Abhinandan Waghyani on behalf of the state government, M L
Patil on behalf of the civic body and Rajendra Raghuvanshi on behalf of
the MPCB. Representatives of the government offices, the NGO and DCP
Sahebrao Patil were present during the hearing. The next hearing is
scheduled for May 6.
