Godavari pollution row -- MPCB asks MSEB to disconnect power supply to NMC HQ

Godavari pollution row -- MPCB asks MSEB to disconnect power supply to NMC HQ
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

MUMBAI, NOv 22: The mudslinging between the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) over the pollution of Godavari river has taken a new turn, with MPCB asking the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) to disconnect the power supply of the NMC headquarters.

Regional manager of the MPCB S K More has written a letter to the executive engineer Nashik (Urban) to disconnect the power supply of the NMC headquarters as a punitive measure (under Section 33 A of the Water Act) for releasing untreated sewerage into the Godavari river. The letter has created a flutter in the NMC, which has been blaming the MPCB for failing to monitor the industrial effluents from industrial units.

The MPCB, on the other hand, has been claiming that the industries have their treatment plants and that the NMC is the major culprit in polluting the river. The differences between the NMC and the MPCB came to the fore earlier this month, when residents of Nashik found that their daily water supply was contaminated and carried a foul smell. The water supplied by the NMC for a week (from November 3 to 10) stinked.

The phenomenon had created a panic in Nashik city and the NMC, which woke up late to the problem, issued notices to 46 industrial units for polluting the river. The MPCB immediately retaliated by stating that the units had their treatment plants and that untreated sewerage released from residential areas had contaminated the water.

The NMC had then blamed two industial units (Ceat and Widem) and six nullahs carrying sewerage, as the cause of pollution. Subsequently, the NMC had resolved at its general body meeting held on November 18 that a complaint should be filed against the MPCB for failing to monitor industrial effluents and booking the culprits who contaminated the river. The NMC supplies about 120 million litres of water daily in the city. However, in absence of an underground drainge and sewerage disposal system and treatment plants, untreated sewerage is released in the river for decades. A project to create an underground network for sewerage disposal has been hanging fire for the past six years.