The Gujarat High Court heavily came down on Amdavad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and the Municipal Commissioner M Thennarasan on July 8 during the hearing of a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) regarding the pollution in the Sabarmati River.
“It seems that the AMC is not taking this matter seriously. Either you do not understand what we are trying to say or the AMC does not want to do the job responsibly,” said the bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi.
“AMC works 3-4 days before the court’s date of submitting the affidavit, it seems they don’t want to clean Sabarmati River. We are doing the job which the corporation should do. Your incorrect numbers prove that you are not sincere enough,” rebuked the HC.
The Gujarat High Court also demanded a report from the AMC commissioner regarding the Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) and task force inspection.
The Gujarat HC expressed its disappointment after Court Assistant Hemang Shah pointed out contradictions between the Gujarat Pollution Control Board’s (GPCB) report and the AMC’s affidavit.
In the AMC’s affidavit, it said that each of the city’s STP was functional 100% whereas the GPCB report states the deteriorated condition of the Vasna and Pirana STP plants.
The report also noted that most of the norms are not being followed by the STPs, and sewage water is being bypassed directly into the Sabarmati River.