Chandigarh, Sept 11: Taking serious note of deteriorating water quality and foul smell in the Sirsa river, the National Green Tribunal has sought responses from Himachal Pradesh and Haryana regarding the downstream contamination of the Sutlej river at Ropar. Hearing the matter on September 9, the bench headed by Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava declared that environmental compliance norms required immediate scrutiny.
The application, moved by Ropar MLA Dinesh Chadha, brought attention to the heavy discharge of factory waste originating from the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial hub. Counsel for the applicant submitted photographic evidence and news coverage to support claims that pharmaceutical and manufacturing units were releasing untreated or partially treated effluents into local drainage channels.
In addition to industrial discharge, the petition raised alarm over sewage and solid waste entering natural streams that feed into the river ecosystem. The applicant maintained that the Common Effluent Treatment Plant operating in the Baddi area lacks sufficient capacity to handle the volume of waste generated.
Setting the matter for further hearing on December 2, the tribunal directed all named respondents to submit their response affidavits well in advance. The intervention focuses on establishing accountability for the pollution pathway flowing from industrial clusters into vital water bodies.
