Don't permit industries discharging effluents into Yamuna: NGT directs DPCC

NEW DELHI: A day after cracking the whip on a sugar mill in Uttar Pradesh for polluting river Ganga, the National Green Tribunal today directed Delhi Pollution Control Committee ( DPCC) not to grant permission to any industrial unit discharging effluents directly or indirectly into Yamuna.

A bench headed by Justice P Jyothimani also asked DPCC to expeditiously deal with the applications filed by the individual industries for consent to operate.

"We make it clear that while considering the applications of individual units and also existing units, DPCC shall not grant permission to any of the units which are discharging untreated effluents directly or indirectly into the river Yamuna and are not following the Hazardous Waste Management Rules," it said.

The bench also said that it was upto DPCC to pass appropriate orders in cases where a fraud has been committed in respect of the identity of the proprietor.

The tribunal had earlier directed DPCC to inspect the units and examine whether the effluents emitting from each of the units were contributing to the pollution or not.

It had on September 10 asked DPCC to take legal action against the erring industries which are not complying with mandatory pollution standards.

Earlier, DPCC had issued closure notices to several industrial units, mainly steel pickling units, in Wazirpur Industrial Area for discharging harmful effluents into drains connected to Yamuna. Steel pickling is the process of removing impurities, such as stains, inorganic contaminants, from the metal.

The tribunal was hearing a petition by NGO All India Lokadhikar Sangthan which had sought a direction to close all hazardous industries functioning within the territory of Delhi, including steel pickling industries.