Effluent Treatment Plants (ETP) in the critically polluted Vapi and Ankleshwar talukas, both of which have a high concentration of chemical industries, are proving to be a failure. The recent findings and admissions by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) paint a grim picture.

The only silver lining seems to be a GPCB proposal to use patented technology from Chennai, even as environmentalists fear a disaster in the region between Ankleshwar and Vapi. The monitoring of the ETPs by CPCB demands a careful examination. CPCB Vadodara Zonal Officer B R Naidu said: “The monitoring of effluent treatment facilities has to be really precise. If norms are flouted even marginally, we double-check the samples collected. We do not compare the figures with GPCB in principle but we do submit the reports regularly.”

Exhaustive data collected by CPCB shows that Common and Final Effluent Treatment Plants set up jointly by Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) and the Industrial Association involving environment consultants have not followed the norms since the inception of CETPs and FETPs in 2000.

“CETPs and FETPs have become a major problem. Outlet and inlet norms are hardly followed by any of these effluent treatment facilities,” said Naidu, adding that he has himself written several letters to GPCB and held meetings to take corrective measures.

“It is not that GPCB does not monitor these, but there are several limitations to monitor these effluent plants,” said Naidu.

Political pressures involved in the monitoring of these facilities and lack of staff are some of the problems. GPCB also admits that the problem of effluent drainage persists even after the setting-up of CETP and FETP in the chemical belt. “Most of the norms are violated in the inlets as several industries do not treat their waste. This results in the clogging of FETPs, forcing them to function beyond their capacities,” said GPCB member secretary R G Shah.

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