<p>Report by Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) in Original Application No 184, 233 and 234 of 2024 (SZ) (Suo Motu Vs The Principal Secretary, Kerala & Others).</p> <p>The matter related
Discharge of untreated effluents from Khazana Sugar Mills has turned Shahalam River into a dead tributary causing water, land and air pollution in the surrounding areas of the provincial capital. Thousands of litres of hazardous waste are discharged into Shahalam, a tributary of River Kabul, daily during crushing season, which starts from December every year and continues till the end of March. Local people say that they cannot use the river water due to toxic waste. Khazana Sugar Mills which was privatised in mid-1990s situated near the river. Its crushing capacity is 4,000 tons per day, but presently it crushes over 2,000 tons of sugarcane daily due to lack of supply, says the management of the mills. The mills' manager administration Tali Mand said that over 200,000 tons of sugarcane had been crushed during current season. He said that the management had planed to build treatment plant before discharging the waste into the river, but the mills was going into losses which delayed the project. The mills' effluent is released into Shahalam River without treatment. Environmentalists said that hazardous substances discharged from the sugar mills absorbed oxygen from the water which caused water and air pollution. Residents of Khazana complain that discharge of untreated waste from the mills is not only polluting the river, but also causing severe air pollution. "We can hardly breathe because of the stink of effluents,' said Izatullah, a resident of Khazana. Industrial waste, he said, posed threat to aquatic life and every year killed thousands of fish in the river when the management washed the mills. Shahalam throws toxic waste of Khazana Sugar Mills into Kabul River. Provincial Environmental Protection Agency director general Dr Bashir Khan said that release of hazardous industrial waste into the river was a crime under the law and the agency would take legal action against the management of the mills. "The EPA inspectors will immediately visit the site and will serve notice on the mills' management,' he added. Under section 11(1) of the Environmental Protection Act, 1997 no person shall discharge or emit or allow the discharge or emission of any effluent or waste or air pollutant or noise in an amount, concentration or level which is in excess of the National Environmental Quality Standards.
In order to find out solution for the crises on rivers, a three-day International River Festival will be organised from February 23 at Bandrabhan in Hoshangabad District. According to a press statement issued here on Thursday, more than 500 specialists would participate in the festival, which is being organised by 'Narmada Samagra'. The trustee of Narmada Samagra and environmentalist Anil Madhav Dave informed that in reality, a river is a complete life in itself. Issues like water, forests, land, agriculture, economic development, consumerism, electricity, aquatic life, culture, purity of environment, bio-diversity are all related to river. The pollution of rivers is increasing rapidly and the sensitivity among people towards rivers has vanished. With the objective to discuss on issues related to river and to prepare future strategy regarding conservation of rivers, this river festival is being organised. Thirteen issues have been prepared for discussion in this gathering which are water, forests, land, culture, life, banks, soil, bio-diversity, pollution, economics of rivers, agriculture and role of voluntary institutions. It is worth mentioning here that for this festival, a complete town named 'Narmada Puram' has been developed on the banks of river Narmada at Bandrabhan of Hoshangabad district.
Some of the Capital's best minds stressed that the citizens of Delhi should utilise the up coming elections by improving the city
The general body meeting of Pune Municipal Corporation witnessed a row over the effluents and sewage water being released into the Mutha-Mula Rivers on a large-scale. However, Municipal Commissioner Praveensinh Pardeshi admitted that at present the PMC only has half the number of sewage treatment plants (STP) needed for the city. Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale even called for White Paper about the entire situation from the civic administration, to which the commissioner asked for a "minimum period' of one month. The debate started with the Shiv Sena leader Shyam Deshpande pointing out that the civic body is satisfied only with desilting the rivers and not actually keeping them clean in the real sense. "Desilting the rivers is fine, but what about the huge quantum of effluents being released into these rivers?' he asked. Corporator Anil Shirole said, "PMC received Rs 200 crore under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, some of which are being spent on the rivers. But what is the use of such huge funds, if unclean and sewage water is let out into the rivers.' Pardeshi said, "As against the need of the city, only half the number of STPs are functioning in the city. The total amount of sewage water generated in the city is 700 MLD, out of which only half is being treated and then released.' Corporator Vikas Mathkari asked the civic administration to carry out a probe into functioning of the agencies, who are given a contract of handling the STPs. Meanwhile, on Wednesday Shiv Sena corporator Sachin Bhagat had allegedly carried a pistol into the general body-meeting hall. NCP corporator Mohansingh Rajpal had raised questions about this during the same meeting. Thursday's meeting also witnessed some initial discussion on the same. While Congress corporator Aba Bagul objected to carrying weapons into the meeting hall, NCP corporator sought a metal detector at the entrance of the GB hall.
The Delhi High Court today reserved its order on the ongoing construction of the Commonwealth Games Village that has been challenged on the grounds that it could harm the ecological system of the Yamuna riverbed. A division bench headed by Justices A.K. Sikri and Rekha Sharma reserved the order after hearing the arguments from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and environmentalists. "We are giving one week's time to all parties in the case to file their affidavits if they want to say anything else in the case,' said the bench.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday reserved judgment on a bunch of public interest litigation petitions challenging the construction of concrete structures, including the Commonwealth Games Village, on the Yamuna riverbed here. A Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice A. K. Sikri and Justice Rekha Sharma reserved the judgment at the conclusion of arguments by counsel for the Delhi Development Authority, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and the petitioners.
The Delhi High Court today reserved its orders on a bunch of petitions filed by environmentalists challenging the construction of the 2010 Commonwealth Games village site on the banks of river Yamuna. The court reserved its order after hearing the petitioners' ecological concerns over the construction of the Games village for the international sports event and a Metro corridor on the river banks.
The Delhi Development Authority has decided to withdraw the draft Yamuna River Zonal Plan dealing with 90 square kilometres of active flood plain of the river here.
People living along Manusmara river in Bihar’s Sitamarhi district dread kala pani
