Some irksome realities on environmental front
* PCBA gas no data regarding draige.
* There’s not a single sewage treatment plant in Assam.
* Untreated sewage from various generating points is directly discharged to tural water bodies, rivers, etc., and the PCBA admits this fact.
* The results of water tests conducted by PCBA between 2008 and 2013 indicated organic and bacterial contamition due to discharge of domestic waste water in untreated form is on the higher side.
By our Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, July 29: Can there be a State without any sewerage treatment plant? There is no sewerage treatment plant in Assam, leading to untreated sewage being discharged from various plants to tural water bodies, thereby increasing the risk of organic and bacterial contamition in water bodies. Serious short shrift on the part of the Pollution Control Board of Assam (PCBA) is glaring in this sorry state of affairs.
In its performance audit on environmental degradation in the Greater Guwahati area with special emphasis on the role of the PCBA, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said this. The CAG tabled the report on in the State Assembly recently.
The CAG observed during the audit that (1) the PCBA had no data regarding draige, (2) there was not a single sewage treatment plant in the entire State, and as such untreated sewage from various generating plants got directly discharged to tural water bodies and rivers and (3) the results of water quality tests conducted by the PCBA between 2008 and 2013 indicated that organic and bacterial contamition due to discharge of domestic waste water in untreated form continued to be on the higher side.
A joint team comprising PCBA and audit officials, according to CAG report, visited the bank of the Brahmaputra and collected water samples from nine draiges directly linked to the river. After tests in PCBA laboratory and alysis it was found that the dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen and total coliform levels were not in conformity with the prescribed criteria in any of the samples. “In one water sample Zinc (Zn) level was found 13 times more than the prescribed limit – 5 mg/l,” the report said, and added that in August 2015, the PCBA said that it was difficult to identify the cause for deterioration of the water quality. “The board also admits that untreated sewage gets into the rivers,” the CAG report said.
The provision of Section 24 of Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 imposed restriction on use of streams or water bodies for discharge of polluting matter which should be complied by every occupier, municipal authority and others. The State boards section 33 of the Water Act may take an application to court for restraining the persons who are like to cause such pollution. However, though the PCBA accepted the observations of audit it did not resort to approach the court for restraining those who cause such pollution.