National Green Tribunal
Dr. D.S. Katara & Anr vs Govt. Of Nct Of Delhi on 20 May, 2022
Item No.2 (Court No. 2)
BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL
PRINCIPALBENCH
(By Video Conferencing)
Original Application No. 17/2022
Dr. D.S.Katara & Anr. Applicants
Versus
Govt. of NCT of Delhi Respondent
Date of hearing: 20.05.2022
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN KUMAR TYAGI, JUDICIAL MEMBER
HON'BLE DR. AFROZ AHMAD, EXPERT MEMBER
Respondents: Ms. Sakshi Popli, Advocate for DPCC & DJB
Mr. Virendra Singh, Advocate for SDMC
ORDER
1. Mr. D.S.Kataria, President and Mr. Sunil Kumar Sharma, Secretary of the Residents Welfare Association, Sector E, Pocket-2, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi have sent the present letter petition raising grievances regarding health hazards posed by stagnant water in open drain on the Northern side of DDA Legal Housing Complex wall in Sector E, Pocket-2, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi.
2. The applicants have submitted that there is a drain with choked and stagnant water between the unauthorized colony of Mhipalpur and Northern side boundary wall of Sector E, Pocket 2. The dwellers of above said unauthorized colony have erected a wall with the construction of multi storied houses. They have diverted the whole dirty water of their houses to the side of wall into this drain and chocked the drain by throwing all source of garbage so that there is accumulation in the drain without there being any proper flow. Some factories running on the boundary wall also discharging their 1 untreated effluents containing chemicals into the drain. Stinking drain water and sewage from the drain has been seeping through the boundary wall weakening the same and making the life of inhabitants miserable. The authorities are not listening to their problems and resolving the same.
3. Vide order dated 28.01.2022, this Tribunal constituted the Joint Committee comprising of DPCC, Municipal Commissioner- South MCD and District Magistrate-South to submit factual and action taken report. The relevant part of the order reads as under:-
"it appears necessary to ascertain the factual position in the matter through a joint Committee of DPCC, Municipal Commissioner-South MCD and District Magistrate-South, Delhi to look into the grievance of the applicant. The DPCC will be the Nodal agency for coordination and compliance. The joint Committee may meet within one month and undertake site visit and look into the grievance of the applicant. Factual and action taken report which inter-alia may include quantity of waste water flowing in the drain in question, its characteristics and ultimate confluence of the said drain, "interception of this drain and diverting it to the designated STP, and to take requisite action against the industry who is discharging waste water into the drain in accordance with law after following due process be furnished within three months ............"
4. In compliance thereof, the Joint Committee met through VC on 05.04.2022 and inspected the area on 06.04.2022 and has submitted report vide email dated 29.04.2022 with the following observations/recommendations:-
"(i) A small open drain about 150-200 mts in length is flowing adjacent to the boundary wall of the residential Society located at Sector E, Pocket 2, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-110070 causing seepage into the residential complex. .
(ii) Main contributor to drain is household discharge mostly consisting of grey water from K-II Block, Mahipalpur Village, which is an unauthorised colony.
(ili) E-2 Block residential Society has in-situ STP which is built and operated by DDA. Treated water from STP is being discharged through the drain into a "Johad" (pond).
Wastewater in this drain doesn't lead to any STP but the 2 wastewater is collected in the pond existing in a low lying area where garbage of the area is also dumped.
(iv) It was informed by DDA officials that tender has been floated for the repair and maintenance work of boundary wall of the aforementioned Society.
(v) The majority of the adjacent areas are devoid of piped sewerage network leading to any STP.
(vi) Samples were taken by DPCC Water Laboratory, to analyse the quality of effluent in drain.
(vii) During the said visit, some photos were clicked. RECOMMENDATIONS:
(i) DDA to expedite the work to stop seepage of water in the Society located at Sector E, Pocket 2, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-1 10070 and to take adequate measures to clean up the pond at Rangpuri Pahadi as land belongs to DDA.
(ii) To inform joint inspection teams of Yamuna Cleaning Cell (YCC) headed by DJB official(s) to inspect the K-II Block, Mahipalpur & adjacent areas to identify industrial units, if any, responsible in discharging effluent in the said drain and to take immediate action against such unit as per mandate of YCC.
(iii) DJB to initiate laying of pipeline on priority so that the wastewater from the unauthorized colonies is channelized to a STP for treatment.
(iv) DPCC water lab to measure the quantity of wastewater as directed by Hon'ble NGT.
Copy of Inspection Report along with photos is annexed as Annexure-II.
4. That during the inspection on 06.04.2022, DPCC Water Lab also made certain observations as under :-
(a) Stagnant / Negligible flow of the drain was observed as drain was filled with debris and malba hence flow measurement was not done.
(b) Flow at STP (operated and maintained by DDA) was also not possible as water from drain is accumulated in pond and later taken into STP.
(c) STP was not operational and no data regarding flow was provided by DDA. Therefore, data could not be collected regarding the flow.
As per the analysis report of the wastewater in the drain dated 19.04.2022 (sample collected during the inspection on 06.04.2022), parameters w.r.t. TSS (128 against the prescribed limit i.e. 100 mg/l) & BOD (85 against the prescribed limit ie. 30 mg/l) were exceeding the prescribed limits. The effluent analysis report of drain is annexed as Annexure-III.
5. That as per the recommendation of the Committee, Joint inspection team of Yamuna Cleaning Cell (YCC) comprising the officials of DJB, SDMC & DPCC has inspected the nearby areas 3 of the drain on 19.04.2022 and the team found no water polluting units in the surrounding areas of the drain. Copy of Inspection Report is annexed as Annexure-IV.
6. That as per the recommendations of the Committee and observations of DPCC Water Lab, Directions u/s 33(A) of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and u/s 5 of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 read with Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 have been issued to DDA & DJB vide letter dated 28.04.2022 to expedite the work as recommended by the Committee during the inspection. Copies of directions are annexed as Annexure-V."
5. From the Report, we find that main contributor to drain is household discharge mostly consisting of grey water from K-II Bock, Mahipalpur which is an unauthorized colony which flows to the drain in question and there is no arrangement for carrying waste water to any STP. Even waste water from E-2 Block residential society is discharged through drain into a Johad/pond where garbage of the area is also dumped. E-2 Block Residential Society has STP built by DDA but at the time of inspection on 06.04.2022, the STP was found to be non-operational and even no data regarding flow of waste water was provided by DDA to the Joint Committee. However, Joint inspection team of Yamuna Cleaning Cell (YCC) comprising the Officials of DJB, SDMC and DPCC on inspection found that there were no water polluting units in the surrounding areas of the drain. As per recommendations of the Joint Committee directions have been issued by DPCC to DJB and DDA vide letter dated 28.06.2022
6. A perusal of letter dated 28.04.2022 shows that the Delhi Pollution Control Committee issued the following directives:
"1. DDA shall take immediate action to stop seepage of water in the Society located at Sector E, Pocket 2, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-110070 and to take adequate measures to clean up the pond at Rangpuri Pahadi: Further, DDA shall take immediate steps for removal of the illegal dumping of garbage/general waste from the site and keep a strict vigil regularly so that illegal dumping of garbage/general Waste doesn't reoccur in future.4
2. DJB shall take immediate steps for cleaning of sewage water accumulated at the said location and take measures so as to collect the sewage from the sources and treat the same in compliance with the norms prescribed before discharging and to take immediate action w.r.t. laying of pipeline so that the wastewater from the unauthorized colonies is channelized to a STP for treatment."
Even though in letter dated 28.04.2022, it has been mentioned that non-compliance of the directions shall attract penal action under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 as well as the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 but there is no affirmative action plan with specific time lines.
7. The report is accepted and directions in terms thereof are issued under Section 15 of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010. The issue be dealt with through Integrated Drain Management Cell (IDMC) headed by the Chief Secretary as directed by this Tribunal vide order dated 27.01.2021 passed in Original Application No. 06/2012 titled as Manoj Mishra Vs. Union of Inida & Ors. DJB and DDA are directed to take requisite steps as directed by the DPCC within 4 months. Compliance report in this regard be filed on or before 01.11.2022 by e-mail at [email protected] preferably in the form of searchable PDF/OCR Support PDF and not in the form of Image PDF.
List the matter for further consideration on 15/11/2022.
Arun Kumar Tyagi, JM Dr. Afroz Ahmad, EM May 20, 2022 Original Application No. 17/2022 AG 5