Nagpur’s ongoing struggle with river pollution has drawn scrutiny from the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court. Despite significant financial investments, amounting to crores of rupees, aimed at cleaning the Nag River, the water quality and overall condition remain largely unchanged. On Tuesday, the court challenged the Maharashtra government’s and Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s efforts in addressing this persistent environmental issue.
The court was informed that the city generates around 520 million litres of sewage every day, of which 423.5 million litres is treated. Around 320 million litres of the treated water is supplied to Koradi and Khaparkheda thermal power stations, while the remaining treated water is discharged into Nag river. The court noted that a Rs1,926.99-crore project, funded by Centre and state govt, is underway to control pollution in Nag river. The project includes sewage treatment plants, more than 500 km of sewerage networks and pumping stations. The court also expressed displeasure over the fact that orders concerning the cleaning of the river had been passed around 16 years ago, yet the situation remained substantially unchanged.
The bench directed NMC and state govt to come up at the next hearing with a concrete solution to the problem.