In April 2019, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) formed a Central Monitoring Committee to monitor pollution of rivers, prepare, and enforce a national plan so that the serious threat to safety of water and environment over 350 river stretches across the country may be checked. The committee will also coordinate with the River Rejuvenation Committees of the states taking into consideration the timelines, budgetary mechanism, and other factors.
Of the over 351 polluted stretches noted by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), 117 are in the states of Assam, Gujarat, and Maharashtra alone, according to a news report.
The committee would consist of a representative from NITI Aayog, secretaries of Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Urban Development and Ministry of Environment, the Director-General of National Mission for Clean Ganga and the Chairman of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCP). The nodal authority for coordination will be the Chairman of Central Pollution Control Board, whereas the responsibility of the nodal agency at the state level will be on the chief secretaries of the states. As per the NGT bench, the chief secretaries of the states may review the progress of River Rejuvenation Committees (RRCs). For this purpose, the chief secretaries may involve concerned secretaries of Department of urban Development, Environment, Irrigation and Public Health, Health and Industries.
The environment ministry has also been directed by the NGT to consider a policy for giving environmental awards to outstanding persons (natural and juristic) and institutions or states along with introducing ‘dis-incentives’ for states which don’t comply with the committee’s guidelines.
The NGT has directed the Central Monitoring committee to give its report by July 31, 2019. For the treatment of water, the committee may identify experts and the best practices in use. Plans may be chalked out to supply untreated sewage to the need party for its proper utilisation. Similarly, the treated water can be used for agrarian purposes.
The NGT has also directed the CPCB and State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) to start a programme at national level to index rivers to be cleaned and to monitor their biodiversity. Regular hygienic surveys of the rivers are necessary for maintaining human health, on the one hand, and sanctity of rivers, on the other. Hygienic surveys of the rivers are important due to presence of faecal coliform and faecal streptococci, as shown in the primary water quality criteria for bathing rivers. Untreated water is harmful not only for human beings but also for aquatic flora and fauna because pathogenic organisms affect human health directly or indirectly. Severe river pollution has affected biodiversity much.
The tribunal also noted that biomapping of rivers is necessary. Setting biological goals is a part of river rejuvenation Programmes in some countries.
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Faecal Coliform and Faecal Streptococci
A faecal coliform is a facultatively anaerobic, rod-shaped, gram-negative, non-sparulating bacterium and generally originates in the intestines of warm-blooded animals. Faecal streptococci are a group of gram-positive streptococci belonging to the genera Enterococcus and streptococcus. They are present in human and animal intestines and also in the stomach.