Supreme Court ordered a National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday 50.44 crore on the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and Delhi Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for their failure to curb pollution of water drains of the city, which eventually contaminates Yamuna.
A back, led by Chief Justice of India Bhushan R Gawai, and Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria of Justice, issued a notice on separate appeals filed by two agencies, banning the fine order of November 2024.
Looking at the DJB, additional Solicitor General SV Raju pressured for an immediate suspension of the instructions of the NGT, arguing that the order put sufficient financial burden on public bodies, while controversies on compliance and liability were still contesting elections.
In the November 2024 judgment, an NGT bench headed by Chairperson Justice Prakash Srivastava directed to submit MCD and DJB. Every 25.22 crore with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) within two months.
The tribunal attributed the DJB to allow drains to merge unidentified sewage and industrial waste with storm water channels, effectively turning to subsequent open sewer. It was noted that despite repeated directions, DJB had failed over many years to maintain different lines for sewage and storm.
“This is the failure of discharge of legal work from DJB … Undoubtedly, DJB is responsible for such failure,” the order said, saying that raw sewage in the drains of the storm caused “severe water pollution” before entering the Yamuna.
The MCD was cast to cover parts of Stormwater drains, especially with reinforced concrete chambers to create additional parking spaces. The tribunal stated that this “completely precious and illegal activity” changed the natural shape of drains, almost impossible cleaning and dysling, and increased the plight of the inhabitants.
The order said, “Complaints and plight of residents … have increased from MCD to completely precious and illegal activity … not only for the purpose of environmental protection, but not only for parking/roads to provide additional land for parking/road low parking,” the order said.
The NGT cited the report of the 2016 National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB), exposing the encroachment and cover of natural drainage channels, and a mixture of sewage in the drains of the storm was included.
The tribunal noticed that despite many earlier orders, inspections and extended deadlines, DJB did not effectively work to prevent discharge of sewage untreated sewage in the drains of the storm, which was eventually empty in Yamuna. This ordered partially removal of concrete cover at regular intervals to allow cleaning and to prevent dishonest gases from a point to prevent and release.
The DJB was directed to tap or bend the drains carrying sewage in the lines of the storm within three months. The NGT’s 160-stage judgment states, “Storm water drain systems should carry rain water and nothing else to maintain ecology and environment … sewage should flow through sewerage networks and finally be treated in STPS before disposal in the river.”
