Jan 30, 2025: Fact Recorder
The Jal Shakti Department (JSD) has been served a show-cause notice by the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) for violating environmental norms. The sewage treatment plant (STP), set up by the JSD, at Parwanoo has failed to treat wastewater. Repeated water samples drawn from the final outlet of the STP by the board officials revealed high fecal coliform.
Samples drawn by the board officials on several occasions, including September 17, 2024, October 11, 2024, and yet again on December 13, 2024, revealed that no improvement had been made in the functioning of the STP.
“All samples of treated effluents drawn from the final outlet of the STP contained fecal coliform. It proved that the STP was either not functioning appropriately or is ineffective in treating wastewater. Thus, it requires proper modification and maintenance, besides upgradation of its capacity,” noted the officials.
The high count of coliform indicates contamination of water body with sewage, which could trigger diarrhoea and related ailments.
Parwanoo has been witnessing regular diarrhoea outbreaks as sewage contaminates potable water with high coliform content. More than 750 diarrhoea cases were detected last year.
Anil Kumar, Regional Officer, SPCB, Parwanoo, said, “The board’s member secretary in its January 21 order stated that they will disconnect the power of the STP and close it, if environmental norms are not adhered to. A 15-day period has been granted to provide adequate pollution control devices and improve the plant’s functioning.”
Further, discharge of contaminated water was polluting the Sukhna Nullah in violation of Sections 25 and 26 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, and Section 21 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
Even the Haryana Government had raised the issue of untreated sewage from Parwanoo contaminating water bodies in Pinjore. As a result, two STPs with a capacity of 1 million litre per day each were set up on the directions of the National Green Tribunal. While the first one has been established at Sector 1, the other being set up at Kamli village has been inordinately delayed.
The first STP has failed to treat wastewater optimally despite having much fewer connections than its capacity.
