The Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation in Uttar Pradesh is dumping 500 tons of municipal waste daily into the Rapti River, without a proper waste processing plant for its disposal.
According to a report submitted by the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) to the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the waste processing plant in Suthni village, designed to handle 500 tonnes per day, is still under construction. So far, only 70% of the work has been completed, which comes at a cost of Rs 28 crore 40 lakhs.
The NGT had previously requested a status report on this matter on February 10, 2023, following a request from Ram Milan Sahni. District and UPPCB officials were ordered to carry out inspections.
The UPPCB status report indicates that district-level officials have visited and inspected the Ekla dam site, where legacy waste exists. This waste is expected to be completely removed by December 2023, pending a final order from the NGT after reviewing the status report.
As mentioned in the report, municipal solid waste is currently being disposed of at the inspection site by trammel machines with a capacity of 100 tons per hour. The plan is to increase the number of Trommel machines in the future.
In addition, a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) plant with a capacity of 5 tons per day has been established at Netaji Subhash Chandra Nagar within the district to handle dry waste. However, the status report does not provide any information on how daily waste is managed in the absence of a processing plant.
The Rapti River, a small river in Uttar Pradesh, originates near the Dhaulagiri range in Nepal. It is a tributary of the Ghaghra River and a sub-tributary of the Ganges, eventually joining the Ghaghra River downstream of the Gorakhpur district.
Despite the previous strict ruling by the National Green Court and the fine regarding sewage discharge into the Rapti River in Gorakhpur, the proper implementation of the orders has yet to take place.
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