A three-member committee constituted by a Bench of Andhra Pradesh High Court to understand the extent of the effluent discharge and the sewage being generated in Visakhapatnam is supposed to prepare a report by October 2023, environment conservationist Bolisetty Satyanarayana has said.
Mr. Satyanarayana, along with water conservationist Rajendra Singh, filed a public interest litigation (PIL) on the issues on pollution in Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts, in the High Court in 2020.
Responding to the litigations, the High Court Bench comprising Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur, on October 11, ordered that a committee be constituted to study the effluent discharge and sewage generation and posted the next hearing to November 8, he said.
Mr. Satyanarayana said that members of the committee should be nominated within 10 days from October 11 and the report be prepared not later than four weeks thereafter.
According to the suggestion made by the Amicus Curiae, the Bench constituted the committee comprising a member to be nominated by the Central Pollution Control Board, a nominee of the State pollution control board and Commissioner of Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA), he added.
The Committee will determine the functional capacity as against the installed capacity of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) and the number of STPs required in addition to the existing ones to treat effluent and sewage. The Committee will also determine the places where the additional STPs are to be located, considering not only the needs of the city, but keeping in view the demand in future.
The city has a population of 17 lakh as per the 2011 Census and it would be around 23 lakh now, said Mr. Satyanarayana.
The VMRDA will provide all help to the Committee for preparation of the reports.
“The Bench also directed that a tentative amount of ₹50,000 be paid to the Amicus Curaie by the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC),” he said.