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The plant is part of the Capital’s initiative to sanitise 189 villages with an “appropriate sewage disposal mechanism” by the end of 2009.
The villagers moved the Delhi High Court recently, through a registered society called Gramin Uthan Avam Jankalyan, to halt the plant’s construction.
A Bench led by Justice T S Thakur, though, dismissed the petitioners’ contention. The court observed that it was high time that sewage treatment in Delhi began on a “war-footing”, and that there was no “real and compelling reason for interference in public interest”.
The petitioners claim at 200 metres, the plant is too close for comfort, and would add to diseases and pollution in their area. “The STP will adversely affect the environment by breeding mosquitoes and spreading viral diseases and foul smell,” the petition says.
The plant was meant for treating sewage of five villages—Mehrauli, Kapashera, Rangpuri, Samhalka and Rajokari—with a population of 2,50,000, and covering an four to five acres. The villages are part of the first batch of 189 villages intended to come under the government’s sewage cleaning project.
As per plans, the project would connect 74 villages with existing peripheral sewage system, 66 others through 37 waste stabilisation ponds, and 49 villages through 19 STPs by next yearend.
In their petition, Kapashera villagers, located closest to the STP compound, sought its relocation, so that “environment for those living in the vicinity is not degraded by the obnoxious emissions”.
Through counsel Sanjay Jain, the villagers sought the court to intervene with authorities and set remedial measures; they contend that the plant would usher in “public health considerations”.
Jain told the court: “Considerations like effluent discharge, toxic and cumulative substances in food chain, potential for nitrate and microbial pollution of ground waters, deterioration of drinking water resources like wells arise in relation to STPs.”
The petition also pointed out that no norms were available regarding location of STPs, especially in view of heavy urbanisation that Delhi is undergoing.
Bench dismisses plea
The Bench said, “It is a paradox that Delhiites - despite the Yamuna being the primary source of water supply - are discharging almost totality of untreated sewage into the river. All 18 drains, including the Najafgarh drain, carry untreated industrial and domestic waste into the Yamuna.” The court highlighted the need for STPs in border villages along which the drains travel. Any change in the treatment plant’s location would lead to further litigation and delay its construction, the Bench said.
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