MPCB sends showcause notice to PCMC
MPCB sends showcause notice to PCMC over illegal dumping into Mutha river
Akash Dhanurkar———————————————————————————
Pimpri Chinchwad based Rayat Vidyarthi Parishad staged a protest, demanding attention of commissioner Shravan Hardikar into the matter, and take strict action against the contractors and defaulters who have led to the discharge of sewage water from Pimple Nilakh based sewage treatment plant, without filtering, into Mula – Mutha river.
According to the information given by the secretary of the organisation, Raviraj Kale, the organization had written letters through e-mail to the commissioner of the city when the lockdown in the state was announced. However, the commissioner did not throw his attention to the issue. The email had mentioned the negligence of the contractor who did not purify the water before discharge into the river, and the official who overlooked the negligence.
According to the report obtained from the organisation, the contractor had led to the discharge of the sewage water into the river from 07/08/20 to 07/10/20. Upon bringing this incident to the attention of Maharashtra Pollution Control Board had demanded clarification from PCMC on the matter l, but PCMC still didn’t reply. Yesterday, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board sent a show cause notice to the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation.
Now, when their demands have gone noticed yet not worked upon, the organisation has staged a dharna infront of PCMC Building. Raviraj, while talking to Pune Pulse expressed the organization’s demands.
1) PCMC must independently run the plant without giving it to the private contractors.
2) Order an enquiry into the matter and punish the culprits who led to the discharge of sewage water into the river.
3) Blacklist the contractor, Shri. Vinay Engineering.
4) Uproot the bypaas line through which the sewage water was released. 5) Suspend Sanjay Kulkarni, an official heading the environmental department.
When Pune Pulse reached out to Commissioner Shravan Hardikar, we understood that he wasn’t even aware of the dharna and the action taken by the Rayat Vidyarthi Parishad. But when asked about MPCB’s notice to the PCMC, he said, “MPCB has asked us to remove the sewage line to the river. The work is underway to remove the sewer line. There is no relation of the sewage pipeline with STP. “
MPCB sends show cause notice; The details are as below :
Maharashtra Pollution Control Board on October 20,2020 sent a show cause notice to the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation. The notice mentioned that the PCMC should reply back as to why necessary action shall not be initiated against you under the Water (P and CP) Act 1974 Air (P and CP) Act 1981, and hazardous and other waste ( Mand TM( Rules 2018 ; r/w Hazardous and other waste management and transboundary movement rules 2018.
The MPCB has asked the PCMC to submit reply to the show cause notice within seven days and failing to reply MPCB shall initiate action as per the provision of various environmental enachments. MPCB in its letter mentioned that board officials visited your Pimpale Nilakh STP (20 MLD) and carried out an inspection regarding compliance of consent condition and also collected JVS. During the visit the board officials following non compliances / violations under Water (P and CP) Act 1974 were observed. 1. PCMC was not operating a sewage treatment plant effectively As per the record available at the plant site office, settling tank scraper found in ideal condition during period August 8, 2020 and October 11, 2020 into blackish effluent disposal into the river. Also the sewage bypass arrangement at Aeration tank, separate valve with cement pipe was found provided. Also the effluent from an aeration tank through the bypass pipeline was found discharging into a chamber without treatment which finally meets River Mutha.
