SC notices to CPCB, SPCBs on Ganga pollution

New Delhi, Aug 7 (UNI) The Supreme Court today issued notices to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) on an application seeking directions to the government to follow provisions of the Pollution Control Act to check unregulated discharge of industrial effluents and chemicals into the river Ganga making its water unfit for human consumption.

A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan issued notices on the application filed by Amicus Curiae Krishan Mahajan, who alleged that neither the CPCB nor SPCBs were following the law under which every municipal corporation must seek prior approval of the Pollution Control Board concerned before permitting discharge of industrial waste and effluents into the river Ganga.

The Supreme Court has been monitoring the implementation of the Ganga Action Plan under which over Rs 1,000 crore have gone down the drain and the level of pollution has assumed alarming proportions, as all chemicals are being discharged into the holy river which passes through the states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Bihar.

The notices are returnable within four weeks.

UNI SC ATI RP BD1605