The National Green Tribunal (NGT) announced that it might pass an order on Wednesday regarding the plea of restaurant-owners in Hauz Khas Village,who sought the reopening of their establishments shut down four days ago for running without proper clearances and discharging untreated waste. After several owners claimed that they had installed effluent treatment plants (ETPs),with others saying they were in the process of doing so,the bench headed by Justice P Jyothimani agreed to give an early hearing to the plea. The NGT said it would decide on Wednesday whether to allow the eateries time to operate and asked them to provide their schemes of treating effluents to Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC). It also directed the (DPCC) to inspect the eateries during the day and ascertain which of them had installed ETPs. The bench noted that the idea was not to close down the restaurants,but to ensure that the restaurants followed the norms and not discharge untreated waste water into the sewers. The tribunal noted that there had been flagrant violation of norms in Hauz Khas Village and the eateries would only be allowed to function if they could satisfy the bench of their compliance. The NGT had ordered closure of 34 eateries after Delhi resident Pankaj Sharma filed a petition alleging that the restaurants were running without clearance,and using ground water without permission from authorities. DPCC,which had been asked to make a detailed submission on the status of enforcement regarding the policy on restaurant and hotels,said approximately 20,000 restaurants were running in the city,of which 122 had been issued showcause notices and 32 had been asked to close. DPCC told NGT that the restaurants,many of which charged as much as Rs 5,000 for a meal,could easily afford to spend Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh for ETPs. DPCC also said that prior to the tribunals order on September 20,it had planned to give the eateries a three-month notice to seek clearances and install ETPs. However,several owners said when they had applied for licences,they had not been informed about the need to apply for ETPs. The owners who had already installed ETPs sought a month to show their functioning and refuted allegations of illegally tapping groundwater in the area. Notices were also issued to the South Municipal Corporation,Commissioner of Delhi Police and the Delhi Jal Board seeking their responses on the matter.
