NGT takes suo motu cognisance of pollution in Pune's Indrayani River, Katraj Lake

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) at Delhi recently took suo motu cognisance of pollution in Pune's Indrayani River and Katraj Lake. .Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member Dr A Senthil Vel registered two separate cases based on two news articles.."The news item raises substantial issue relating to compliance of environmental norms and implementation of the provisions of the Scheduled enactments," both orders dated March 22 stated..The first proceeding was registered based on a news item titled "Pune: Foul smell from lake troubles Katraj and Bibwewadi society residents; Demand urgent action from PMC" appearing in ‘Pune Pulse’ on February 12.The news item highlighted the issue of disposal of sewage in Katraj Lake in Pune's Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park resulting in foul smell and mosquitoes, causing distress to the residents of the area. .The second was registered based on a news item titled "Layer of toxic foam floats on the surface of Indrayani River in Pune" appearing in Hindustan Times on the same date.This news item revealed release of untreated industrial and domestic waste in large quantities into the river. It also recorded that while Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) was attributing the pollution to domestic sewage, the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation's (PCMC) claim was that it was being caused by industrial effluent being released into the river..The Tribunal determined that both the news reports raised substantial issues relating to compliance with environmental norms and accordingly, took cognisance of both the matters. It issued notices to MPCB, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), PCMC, Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) and District Collector, Pune and posted the matters for hearing on May 28 before the Pune Bench of NGT..MPCB was represented by advocate Mukesh Verma.CPCB was represented by advocate Tanisha Samanta.PMC was represented by advocate Rahul Garg. PCMC was represented by advocate Shivshankar Swaminathan..[Read Orders]