SC bans industrial discharge into Yamuna in Delhi, Haryana

"This order prohibiting dicharge of contaminated effluent shall operate in Haryana also," the bench added.

A report filed by the Central Pollution Control Board indicated that Yamuna water was not fit for drinking as it contained pollutants far in excess of the standard set for worst quality of drinking water.

Counsel for CPCB Vijay Panjawani pointed out to the court that permissible level of coliform was 5000 per 100 ml but the Yamuna water was found to contain over 11 crore coliform at one point of time of which 15 lakh coliform could be attributed to feacal matter.

The bench adjourned till March 3 the case, which it had taken up after perusing a newspaper report on pollution of the river, in the hope that attorney general Soli J Sorabjee would be able to take effective steps "with a view to achieve desired results" in checking the pollution.

The bench after perusing the CPCB report said "the situation is certainly alarming and the river appears to have been ruined" and impressed upon the attorney general to take some harsh decisions saying "ultimately public health has to be given top priority even at the cost of a few jobs."

The court also expressed dissatisfaction over the affidavit filed by Delhi Chief Secretary Omesh Saigal saying it appeared that the government has not yet implemented the earlier order of the court which had fixed November 1, 1999 as the deadline to stop discharge of untreated industrial effluents into the river.

Sorabjee assured the court that effective steps have to be taken and also the tempo of measures to check pollution of the river has to be kept up.

Saigal informed the court by an affidavit that government had closed down 983 industrial units which were found polluting the river by discharging effluents but later allowed 252 of them to reopen after getting independent reports about treatment of their effluent.

Among the major industries to be affected in Haryana are breweries in and around Sonepat discharging their effluent into a drain, which joins the Yamuna just before it enters Delhi.

Ranjit Kumar quoting the CPCB report said Bio-Oxygen Demand (BOD) standard for primary drinking water was 3 mg per ml but Yamuna was found to contain at one point of time 80 mg per ml. He said same was the case regarding chemical oxygen demand (COD), which arises mainly from industrial effluents.