Polluted Industrial discharge near the sea coast of Navapur was caught on camera by the crew of coast guards. The district government departments were caught unaware and had to act swiftly as the images got viral on social media.
A coast guard helicopter on patrol, operating in the sea noticed that a large quantity of coloured sewage was being discharged into the sea near Navapur coast in Palghar taluka on Dec 24.
The crew of the coast guard in a helicopter filmed the video and as they suspected a high leakage in the MIDC effluent discharge pipeline they alerted the District Disaster Management Group. The discharge of the effluent from MIDC which had a violet colour was released about 500 meters from the shore.
The concerned department officials were caught napping and had to act swiftly to curtail further damage.
About 20 to 25 mld of treated sewage from Tarapur Industrial Estate is released into the sea at Navapur every day from three discharge points at a distance of 500 meters from the seashore.
The treatment of effluent is done by Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETP) operated by the Tarapur Environment Protection Society (TEPS) and the parameters of the discharge are monitored by Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB).
The level of total suspended solids, level of oxygen and pH and other primary and secondary parameters of effluent sewage produced in Tarapur MIDC is being controlled by CETP but the tertiary treatment of decolourization and deodorisation is not done. This is causing harm to the fishing which is done in shallow waters, creeks and a few kilometres near the sea.
Pankaj Raut
According to the senior officials of MPCB, it is planned to discharge the treated effluent produced in Tarapur 7.1 km deep into the sea. A sewage pipeline has already been laid at the bottom of the sea for this purpose. But the connection of this sewage pipeline is still incomplete due to some technical reasons. This has led to the discharge of effluent at points near the shore.
The new video of the colourful has highlighted the pollution issue faced by the fishermen in Palghar taluka. Akhil Bhartia Mangela Samaj Parishad has complained about this issue to National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the NGT has imposed a fine of Rs 160 Crores on over 100 industries and TEPS in this context.
