MUMBAI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed a fine of Rs 12,000 crore as environmental compensation on the state of Maharashtra for failing to treat over 55 per cent of daily sewage waste.
Maharashtra generates over 9,758 megaliters (MLD) of waste every day, out of which only 4,338 MLD or 45 per cent of the total liquid waste is treated by the state facilities, and the same goes for the solid waste.
As per the records presented by the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra noted that cumulatively over 24,951 tonnes of solid waste is generated by the 403 urban local bodies (ULB) in Maharashtra, out of which over 4,657 tonnes of waste go untreated and make way to 273 dumpsites in the state. The landfill sites in the state together hold over 3.94 crores of legacy waste.
Earlier, on September 1, the NGT also imposed a fine of 3,500 crores on West Bengal for failing to treat solid and liquid waste. The penalty imposed was calculated at a rate of Rs 2 crores per MLD of untreated waste and Rs 300 per tonne on legacy waste.
The order of NGT reads, “In respect of gap in treatment of liquid waste/sewage, i.e. 5420.33 MLD, compensation works out to ₹10840.66 crores and compensation for un-remediated legacy waste to the extent of 3,94,19,287 works out roughly to about ₹1,200 crores,”
The Supreme Court of India in the year 2017 has given a deadline of April 2020 by which all the states must establish necessary solid and liquid waste treatment facilities to ensure that no waste goes untreated in any of the states.
As per the National Inventory of Sewage Treatment Plants (2021) prepared by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Maharashtra has the capacity to treat around 6900 MLD sewage waste which is only 76 per cent of the total waste generated by the state. However, the state is only treating around 4,242 MLD or 47 per cent of the total sewage waste.