Panel finds non-compliance of norms by effluent treatment plant in Barhi

A joint committee of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) found a large number of anomalies in the operations of a Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) in the Barhi industrial zone.

It was revealed in a report submitted to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that the joint team found that the CETP was operational illegally i.e. without Consent to Operate (CTO), Online Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (OCEMS) were found defunct, water extraction was being done without valid permission from the Haryana Water Resourse Authority (HWRA), etc.

Untreated effluents polluting yamuna

• A Delhi-based environmentalist, in his complaint to the NGT, had alleged that the 16-MLD Common Effluent Treatment Plant set up in Barhi industrial area of Sonepat was not being maintained properly.
• He alleged that untreated industrial effluents were being discharged into the Drain Number -6, which was polluting the Yamuna river.
• During the inspection, the joint panel of Central Pollution Control Board and Haryana State Pollution Control Board found many anomalies at the plant.
• The presence of heavy metals in samples indicated the contamination of the storm water with untreated industrial effluents

Varun Gulati, a Delhi-based environmentalist, in his complaint to the NGT, alleged that the Barhi industrial area had around 900 industries and a CETP with 16 MLD had been set up.

However, he stated, the quantity of the effluents discharged from these industries was much more than the capacity of the CETP installed there.

The environmentalist alleged that the CETP was not being maintained properly and the industrial effluents were discharged in the Drain Number -6, which led to the Yamuna river in Delhi, thereby polluting the river.

Following the complaint, the NGT had constituted the joint committee of the CPCB and the HSPC, which carried out an inspection in the Barhi industrial zone. The teams conducted inspections at Barhi industrial zone CETP, did mapping of the Drain Number-6 to check the pollution levels and checked the sources of pollution.

The HSPCB also provided a list of 253 industries, of which 136 units were discharging effluents and other 117 industries were generating only domestic waste water.

During the inspection, the joint panel also held talks with the complainant and the teams collected 10 samples from the inlet and outlet of two CETPs with the capacity 10 MLD and 16 MLD in the Barhi industrial zone. The team also collected around 200 samples from the industrial units and also collected samples from 25 locations during the mapping of the Drain Number-6 and sent them to the laboratory for analysis.

Gulati said that the interim report, which the joint team had submitted in the NGT, said that the storm water samples showed high levels of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Dissolved solids (TDS) and the presence of heavy metals which indicated the contamination of the storm water with untreated industrial effluent.

As per the analysis report, BOD was recorded at the access level in the CETP.

Apart from this, the report of the CETP of 16-MLD capacity also revealed that the online continuous emission monitoring systems (OCEMS) were installed but were not functional, the consent to operate of the CETP was expired, there were two bore-wells for both CETPs but no flow meter had been installed, no logbook had been maintained, the consent for air and water and hazardous waste authorisation had expired in September 2023.

It was also revealed that the Drain Number-6 was found filled with silt and sludge with meagre flow near Haryana Organics, a liquor manufacturing plant in Chulkana in Samalkha. The lab analysis reports revealed that there was a significant increase in values of BOD 224 mg/l and COD 750mg/l at the downstream of the Haryana Organics which indicates industrial effluent impact on Drain Number-6.

Gulati said the industries in the HSIIDC, Barhi, were extracting groundwater at a massive level but the Haryana Water Resource Authority (HWRA) was not taking any action.