UP Government directed by NGT to compensate for discharge of sewage into rivers in Gorakhpur District

Case: Meera Shukla v Municipal Corporation, Gorakhpur

Bench: A bench of Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and Sudhir Agarwal, and Expert members Prof A Senthil Veil and Dr. Afroz Ahmad 

For improper solid waste management and discharge of sewage into rivers in Gorakhpur District, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the State of Uttar Pradesh to pay 120 crores as environmental compensation. The bench noted the continuous violations of discharge of untreated sewage into drains and other water bodies in Gorakhpur.

The bench was hearing a petition seeking curative action for contamination of water bodies caused by untreated sewage and industrial effluent discharge in and around Gorakhpur district. The applicant stated that contaminated water causes various kinds of fever, and Gorakpur has a history of deaths of hundreds of children due to such fevers. Moreover, such diseases are fatal at times.

Even if the patient survives, there's a risk of suffering mental impairments. To the detriment of public health, water pollution law enforcement has been and continues to be highly inadequate.

The NGT determined that the State had to be held accountable for the discharge of 55 million liters per day (MLD) of sewage.

Therefore, the tribunal fixed financial liability under the 'polluter pays' principle at the same amount as it did in the case of the State of Maharashtra. Further, based on Maharashtra's scale of compensation, it determined the compensation for solid waste to be 10 crores.

As a result, the UP government is depositing 120 crores under the control of the Divisional Commissioner, Gorakhpur, in order to comply with the joint Committee's directions, which may plan remedial measures to achieve norms preferably within six months.