India gasps for breath in 2023, NGT spurs authorities to strive for cleaner air, water

NEW DELHI: As large swathes of India gasped for breath, choking on air laden with contaminants, the National Green Tribunal grappled with a wide range of environmental issues, including pollution of the Ganga and quality and quantity of groundwater and air pollution in 2023. It went to the extent of imposing huge penalties on states like Delhi and Bihar for poor liquid and solid waste management.

In February, the tribunal directed the Delhi government to pay Rs 2,232 crore as environmental compensation for improper management of solid and liquid waste, while in May it imposed a staggering Rs 4,000 crore compensation on Bihar. It took suo motu (on its own) cognisance of industrial and environmental disasters, and awarded compensation to the victims.

Acknowledging the pressing issue of pollution of the Ganga and its tributaries in West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand, the NGT sought a report from each district from the District Ganga Protection Committees headed by the DM across the five states.

While dealing with complaints about encroachment and pollution of water bodies, the tribunal directed the authorities concerned to restore them to their original form. The tribunal observed that nearly all states and UTs were yet to bridge the gap between sewage generation and treatment. It noted the estimates which said around 30,000 million litres per day (MLD) of sewage was still left untreated.

Underscoring that legacy waste dumped across cities was like a “ticking time bomb”, the tribunal ordered their remediation through biomining and other measures. A major initiative of the tribunal launched during the year was monitoring the gaps in solid and liquid waste across states and UTs, and imposing environmental compensation on deficient stakeholders.

On May 21, the green panel concluded its proceedings on solid and liquid waste management by all states and UTs, and said the way forward is to accord high priority to the subject and ensure strict monitoring. It adjudicated matters on the use of groundwater by stadiums and groundwater contamination in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur and Sangrur in Punjab, noting their quality and falling levels across 27 states, and the need for replenishment by rainwater harvesting.

The tribunal flagged natural disasters, as reported in Joshimath (Uttarakhand), and heard matters relating to cracks in houses, roads and other infrastructure in the state, besides those in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda. It also took note of such damage caused in Uttarakand’s Mussoorie and ordered measures for prevention of environmental damage in the wider Himalayan region.

The tribunal, on its own, took up the Air Quality Index (AQI) management issues in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) and across several states.

It directed the chief secretaries of the states where the AQI had dipped to poor, very poor and severe categories to take immediate remedial action.

According to data available on the NGT website, the tribunal, across all its benches, settled 27,115 matters.