Ahmedabad (Gujarat):The Gujarat High Court has said it is "very disturbing" to note that the laboratories of sewage treatment plants (STPs) established to clean polluted water before it is released in the Sabarmati river here indulged in manipulation of records, and asked the local civic body to look into the issue.
The manipulation of records was revealed in a report submitted by a committee formed by the court to look into pollution in the river while hearing a suo motu PIL. A division bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Vaibhavi Nanavati, in an order made available online on Wednesday, directed the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) to ensure "scientific operation of all the STPs," and explore in situ (on site) treatment of the drains carrying sewage into the Sabarmati river.
"It is very disturbing to note that the laboratories of the STPs run and managed by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation were found indulging in manipulation of the records," the bench said in the order delivered on October 21. The court is hearing a suo motu PIL based on media reports of polluted water dumped into the Sabarmati river without being treated properly in accordance with set norms.
The HC said, as per the report submitted to it by the committee, the laboratories' staff were ill-trained and their data indicated repetition. "The committee, in so many words, has stated in its report that the in-house operating and monitoring mechanism of the STP plants and their laboratories is insubstantial," said the court.