With the Allahabad High Courts regular monitoring of pollution in the Ganga,the Pollution Control Board (Ganga),while shifting blame on the Allahabad Municipal Corporation for unabated pollution through domestic sewage, wants to lodge FIRs against corporation officials. In a strongly-worded letter to the state government,a week back,regarding what it called the casual approach of the AMC to initiate measures to stop the direct flow of domestic waste into the Ganga,the PCB has sought government permission to lodge an FIR against the AMC officers responsible for lapses. Pollution Board sources said it had sent several notices to the AMC to stop the direct flow of untreated sewage into the Ganga. The Board survey had found that domestic waste was the worst offender. There are 13 large drains flowing directly into the Ganga. The letter from the PCB has created a stir in the corporation with its officials busy preparing a report in their defence. Scientist and in-charge of PCB,Allahabad,Anil Kumar Singh said,The response of the AMC to our repeated reminders is not satisfactory. The AMC officers have not taken the matter seriously and untreated domestic waste continues to flow into the river in Allahabad. We have written to the government seeking permission to initiate legal action against the AMC officers. AMC officials,however,passed the buck to the PCB and said the board was trying to save its skin. The AMC does not have funds to install sewage treatment plants for which it has to depend on the government. How can we stop sewage flow as it would damage the drainage system and create water-logging problems in the city, said the mayor and Congress leader Jitendra Nath Singh. According to another report,sources at the PCB informed,the principal sources of pollution in the Ganga are domestic waste and industrial effluents. Conservative estimates put the effluents flowing into Ganga to be in the range of 1.7 billion litres each day,of which 1.4 billion litres is untreated.
