HC raps officials as Sabarmati river remains highly polluted

Centre allocated ₹200 to curb pollution in the river from 2014-15 to 2017-18

Gujarat’s Sabarmati river remains highly polluted despite the spending of nearly ₹200 crore that the Centre had allocated to curb pollution in the river from 2014-15 to 2017-18. But the situation has only worsened, inviting wrath from the High Court.

The Gujarat High Court has reprimanded the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) for the pollution on the Sabarmati riverfront, and admonished that officials accountable for the functioning of laboratories in sewage treatment plants (STP), who failed to keep a check on polluted water dumped into the riverfront, will be “dealt with strictly”.

The High Court observed that the root cause of pollution in the Sabarmati was the lack of accountability on part of the authorities, as there appears to be a nexus between the officials and industries that discharge untreated effluents into the river stream, polluting its water.