Gurgaon, The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed pollution board officials to investigate allegations of illegal ‘red category’ industrial units in residential areas of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonipat, and Jhajjar polluting the Yamuna river. The petitioner, Varun Gulati, claimed these units were operating without effluent treatment plants, discharging untreated effluents into open areas and drains leading to the Yamuna.
The NGT bench, comprising Chairperson Prakash Shrivastava, Judicial Magistrate Arun Kumar Tyagi, and Expert Member Dr. Afroz Ahmad, has formed a joint committee involving the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), and district magistrates to inspect and collect samples. The committee has three months to complete the investigation, with the action taken report due a week before the next hearing on April 5.
HSPCB officials expressed their commitment to following the NGT’s directions, emphasizing inspections and analysis of discharge samples from industrial units. Sewage from Gurgaon, directed into the Najafgarh channel, eventually reaches the Yamuna in Delhi, while other districts release wastewater directly into the river.
A previous CPCB survey between December 2021 and March 2022 found common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) in Haryana mixing sewage with chemicals and industrial waste. In 2018, CPCB officials reported high levels of ammonia being discharged into the Yamuna from drains in Haryana. Recent allegations from the Delhi government about rising ammonia levels further escalated tensions between the two states.
