SPCB dilly-dallies on making effluent treatment must

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, April 23

The State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) has yet to make primary treatment of industrial effluents compulsory despite the apex court making it mandatory in February this year.

Though the board officials convened a meeting of the stakeholders, including the management of the Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) being run at Baddi, no decision to make primary treatment compulsory could be arrived at reveal sources in the board.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has also laid down inlet quality standards for various effluents like ph, biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, fixed dissolved solids, ammonical nitrogen, nitrogen, phosphates, chlorides, sulphate, fluoride, nickel, arsenic, lead, mercury, etc., for various types of industries. The effluents sent by the industries for treatment to the CETP are supposed to adhere to these specifications. This will ensure safety of the environment.

The SPCB was, however, yet to direct the industries to adopt these parameters. In the absence of specific directions several industries were sending untreated waste without undertaking even primary treatment of the effluents within their premises. This was proving to be environmentally damaging as several cases of conduit pipes spilling the effluents have come to fore in Baddi in the last six months.

An analysis of the water quality at places where the effluents were spilled by the CETP conduits revealed that the biological oxygen demand increased by 6 to 7 times. Biological oxygen demand is a key parameter to measure the quality of water confided Brijbhushan, Regional Officer of the SPCB, Baddi.

The working of the CETP as well as the SPCB was already under the scanner of the high court and periodic reports were being sought about its functioning. The apex court has granted three months to introduce primary treatment of effluents in the industries. The field officials confirmed that no directions have as yet been received about making primary treatment of effluents mandatory.