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Sub: Proceeding of the personal hearing given before the Chairman of the Board on 15.03.2024 w.r.t. Notice to issue directions u/s 33-A of the Water Act, 1974 alongwith show cause notice for refusal of consent to operate under the Water Act, 1974 to M/s STP of Capacity 105 MLD located at Village Balloke, Ludhiana.
The following were present:
On behalf of Punjab Pollution Control Board
Er. Paramjeet Singh, Senior Environmental Engineer, Zonal Office-1, Ludhiana
Er. Pardeep Balu, Add. Senior Environmental Engineer, Zonal Office-1, Ludhiana
On behalf of the industry
Sh. Ekjot Singh, XEN, MC Ludhiana
Sh. Balraj Singh Gill, XEN, PWSSB
The Senior Environmental Engineer, Zonal Office-1, Ludhiana brought out that the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) of Capacity 105 MLD based on SBR Technology has been installed by Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana at Village Balloke, Distt. Ludhiana for the treatment of the domestic effluent generated from the city.
The STP was granted Consent under Water Act, 1974 valid upto 31.03.2023, which was further extended upto17.01.2024 for discharge of domestic effluent @ 105 MLD into Buddha Nallah after treatment with usual conditions and with the special condition that the Municipal Corporation Ludhiana shall make all necessary arrangements / infrastructures so as to utilize the treated effluent onto land for plantation / irrigation in consultation with all stake holder departments at the earliest possible and deposit Environmental Compensation in time bound manner.
The Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana was issued notice u/s 33-A of the Water Act, 1974 with personal hearing before Chairman of the Board on 07.06.2023 in which it was decided that:-
1. Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana shall take immediate necessary actions to utilize the treated effluent for irrigation purposes in consultation with all the stake holders. The progress w.r.t utilization of treated effluent onto land for irrigation will be reviewed immediately after 15.08.2023.
2. Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana shall deposit the Environmental Compensation amounting to Rs.68,25,000/- for the period of 08.04.2021 to 06.10.2021, within 15 days.
3. Environmental Engineer, Regional Office-3, Ludhiana shall examine the issue for further imposition of Environmental Compensation for the period after 06.10.2021 for not achieving the results and disposing untreated / partially treated effluent into River Sutlej in consultation with the concerned branch of Head Office and Law officer in view of the timelines given by the Government for rehabilitation of the STP and submit recommendations accordingly, within 15 days.
4. Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana shall apply for consent to operate under Air Act, 1981, within 15 days.
To check the compliance, the STP was visited by the officers of the Board on 31.08.2023 and 29.09.2023 respectively and it was observed that the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana has not submitted any action plan to utilize the treated effluent for irrigation purposes.
The Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana has applied for renewal of consent to operate under Water Act, 1974 to operate for 105 MLD STP at Balloke, Ludhiana on 19.01.2024. The authorities concerned were requested to submit the reply of following observations within 2 days through clarification dated 20.01.2024, which was as under:
(a) Previous consent No. CTOW/Renewal/LDH3/2023/21191553 Dated as extended upto 17.01.2024 with usual conditions and with the special condition that the Municipal Corporation Ludhiana shall make all necessary arrangements / infrastructures so as to utilize the treated effluent onto land for plantation / irrigation in consultation with all stake holder departments at the earliest possible and deposit Environmental Compensation in time bound manner, please submit the reply.
(b) To intimate the status of OCEMS and CCTV Cameras and their connectivity with Boards server.
(c) The Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana is required to deposit the consent fee in light of Boards Letter No. SEE(HQ-2)/F.No.248/2023/14450-65 dated 21.06.2023.
The STP was visited by officer of the Board on 23.01.2024 and it was observed as under:-
1. That the STP was in operation and all the components were also in operation except SBR-I which was under maintenance.
2. As per SCADA System provided with the STP, the flow rate at outlet of STP was 2898M3 and it has discharged treated effluent during the period 01.01.2024 to 22.01.2024 @ 1684309 M3 i.e. 76.55MLD on average basis.
3. It has installed the OCEMS at the final outlet of STP but same were not in operational condition.
4. It has installed 4 CCTV Camera, out of which 1 was not in operation, but same has not been connected with the Boards server.
5. The Municipal Corporation Ludhiana has not submitted the details of arrangements / infrastructures provided to utilize the treated effluent onto land for plantation / irrigation with the application.
6. During visit, the treated domestic effluent was being discharged into Budha Nallah through common Drain of all 3 STPs (i.e. 60 MLD, 105 MLD and 152 MLD). The effluent samples from the Inlet and outlet of STP were collected and sent to Zonal Lab, Ludhiana for analysis and results are awaited.
7. The Authorities concerned i.e. Municipal Corporation, Ludhaina/ Punjab Water Supply Sewerage Board is not depositing the Sample Testing of effluent samples collected from time to time.
8. Environmental Compensation of Rs. 68,25,000/- has been imposed upon the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana for the non- achievement of the effluent standards by the STP Balloke (105 MLD) from the period April 2021 to October 2021 but the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana has not deposited the EC amount till date.
The Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana has not been applied for consent to operate under Air Act, 1981 through OCMMS, till date.
In view of above, the Municipal Corporation was issued notice to issue directions u/s 33-A of the Water Act, 1974 alongwith show cause notice for refusal of consent to operate under the Water Act, 1974 with hearing before Chairman of the Board on 07.03.2024, postponed to 15.03.2024.
Sh. Ekjot Singh, XEN, MC Ludhiana and Sh. Balraj Singh Gill, XEN, PWSSB on behalf of STP attended the hearing and submitted a written reply, which was taken on record. Sh. Ekjot Singh, XEN, MC Ludhiana submitted that the Hon'ble NGT Principal Branch has constituted a joint committee with members of Central Pollution Control Board and Punjab Pollution Control Board in the case of Nitin Dhiman v/s State of Punjab application no. 225 of 2022. The Joint Committee has submitted that the proposal for use of treated sewage effluent for irrigation is to be submitted by the department of Water Resources and department of Soil Conservation. An appeal was filed before Hon'ble Secretary, Department of Science, Technology and Environment regarding Environmental Compensation of Rs. 68,25,000/- and an order dated 07.03.2024 has been issued by the Department of Science, technology and Environment in the matter. They have deposited consent fee of Rs. 2.50 lac.
Further, Sh. Balraj Singh Gill, XEN, PWSSB submitted that OCEMS and all CCTV cameras are now in working condition.
After hearing the authorities, officers of the Board and considering material facts on record, the Chairman of the Board decided as under:
1. The Municipal Corporation shall operate its STP regularly and efficiently so as to achieve the prescribed standards of the Board.
2. The Municipal Corporation shall maintain proper record of SCADA system provided with the STP so as to ensure its regular operation.
3. The Municipal Corporation shall connect the OCEMS at outlet of STP with the Boards server, within 07 days.
4. Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana shall take immediate necessary actions to utilize the treated effluent for irrigation purposes in consultation with all the stake holders, within 15 days.
5. The Municipal Corporation will also develop the vermicomposting for the management of sewage sludge using earthworms as a value addition step of the sludge utilization to be used as better organic manure.
6. Consent to operate under the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 be granted for one year with special condition that the industry shall submit the proposal of use of treated sewage effluent onto land for irrigation.
7. The Environmental Engineer, Regional Office-2, Ludhiana shall examine the issue of Environmental Compensation Rs. 68,25,000/- in consultation with the concerned branch of Head Office and Law officer in view of the order dated 07.03.2024 issued by the Department of Science, Technology and Environment , within 15 days.
8. Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana shall apply for consent to operate under Air Act, 1981, within 15 days.
9. The Environmental Engineer Regional Office shall verify the submission of the Municipal Corporation and submit recommendations in the matter.
Submitted for confirmation of decisions of the hearing and for conveying to the industry and Regional Office, please.
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