Govt rapped for justifying discharge of dirty water into village pond

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has admonished the state government for justifying its act of discharging household sullage into a village pond by claiming that the practice has been going on “since time immemorial”.

Terming the explanation astonishing and unacceptable, Justice Kuldeep Tiwari has directed the state to place on record the consolidation scheme and relevant revenue documents, including the “shariat wajib-ul-arz” or a record of customs, rights and liabilities in a village.

The direction came less than a month after the state informed the court that it had deepened a village pond to prevent sewage overflow around a school site at Togan village near Mullanpur. Taking a serious view, Justice Tiwari questioned the legality and environmental implications of the step.

As the matter came up for resumed hearing, Justice Tiwari asserted a status report filed in the matter had disclosed “some astonishing facts”. The government had attempted to defend its act of using village ponds for sullage disposal by citing historical usage patterns dating back to pre-consolidation times.

The affidavit stated that both natural and artificial ponds in villages had traditionally been used for wastewater discharge through natural cleaning and seepage processes. “This practice is being carried out since times immemorial,” the affidavit said.

Taking exception, Justice Tiwari asserted: “Since the state government has taken the stand that the sullage water was being discharged into the village ponds even before the consolidation proceedings, this court directs it to place on record the consolidation scheme as well as ‘shariat wajib-ul-arz’, if any, as prepared by the Revenue Department.”

The Bench fixed March 7 for further hearing on the two petitions filed in the matter by Parent Teacher Association and other petitioners through senior counsel RS Khosla, along with advocates Sarvesh Malik and Aman Sharma.