In its first major order on September 22, 1987, the apex court directed closure of 20 tanneries working on the banks of Ganga and discharging effluents into it, noting that industrial pollutants were ten times more noxious then domestic waste.
Similarly, on January 12, 1988 the apex court, while reiterating the earlier directions, ordered the municipalities concerned to set up Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) to ensure that untreated domestic sewage does not enter the river.
In 2006, it took note of the CAG report on the expenditure on the Ganga Action Plan for year ending March 2000 in which it was said that Rs 587.63 crore had been incurred by the implementing agencies.
It said that audit test check in the states, however, found many instances of financial mismangement, such as fund diversion to unauthorised activities (Rs 36.07 crore), incorrect reporting (Rs 6.75 crore) and funds remaining unutilised with the implementing agencies (Rs 72.62 crore).
Several other important orders were also passed by the apex court on the PIL including that industrial units shall submit a time bound action plan for setting up of anti- pollution measures to be completed before March 31, 2015.
Comments
0 comment