Maharashtra echoes NGT, orders Rs 100cr fund for clean-up of Ulhas, Waldhuni rivers

Mumbai: Against odds, the Ulhas and Waldhuni rivers look set to be cleaned up. In possibly the first such step, the state government has directed four local self-government bodies, besides the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and the operators of the Dombivli and Ambernath common effluent treatment plants (CETP), to create a special escrow account and deposit Rs 100crore for the restitution and restoration of the two polluted rivers.
The local bodies include the Kalyan-Dombivli and Ulhasnagar municipal corporations, and the Ambernath and Kulgaon municipal councils.
The state order, echoing that of the July orders of the National Green Tribunal, Pune bench, comes even though the government agencies and local bodies had obtained a stay on the order.
The state urban development department in a government resolution (GR) issued on Monday has directed the setting up of the escrow account under the supervision of the Konkan divisional commissioner. It made it clear the money to be deposited will be drawn from the funds of the local bodies. “For this purpose, they should not approach the government for grants,” states the GR.
In August this year, the four local bodies, along with Dombivli Better Environment (representing the industries in the area), had obtained a stay from Bombay high court against depositing Rs 100crore cumulatively by the various state and municipal authorities and other agencies in the escrow account. With the HC stay operational, the GR may be brought to the notice of the court before it is implemented, said legal experts. The local bodies can, if they choose, to challenge the new GR.
This July, the NGT had ordered the various authorities to deposit the money with the divisional commissioner in a special escrow account within six weeks. It directed the divisional commissioner to use the money for implementation of a scientific programme for cleaning of the rivers, ensure no further riverine pollution, and take other restorative measures like removal of sludge, and beautification of the banks to protect against unauthorized dumping of waste and effluents in the Waldhuni and Ulhas estuary. All the works were to be completed in 18 months, the order said.