Residents of the Waterlily Co-op Housing Society filed a petition at the Gujarat high court on Wednesday; asking for relocating of Gandhinagar’s current 75 MLD sewage treatment plant (STP) and opposing the building of a new 65 MLD STP on a nearby plot.
Water Lily Co. is on the SG Highway-accessible Adani Shantigram Township. A petition against the Suez Treatment Plant (STP) idea put out by the Gandhinagar Urban Development Authority had been filed in the High Court by an operating organisation (Guda).
After the hearing, the High Court accepted the petition and will be heard again in September. The petitioner requests the STP plant in the residential area to shut down and the new construction proposed should be halted. Installation of this STP shouldn’t take place in the neighbourhood.
The petitioner’s attorney stated in the High Court during the hearing that contaminated water from STPs installed in plot number 38 is being released in open areas. As a result, filth, odour and mosquito-borne epidemic conditions arise in the neighbourhood. Within the boundaries of Auda, an STP has been built next to a residential neighbourhood by Guda.
The residents claimed that the cleansed water is used in industrial sectors and agriculture. Moreover, the current STP lacks a discharge outlet for filthy water, which is released into open fields violating the pollution control regulations. Another argument was made relevant to the authorities that the STP should be constructed far from the residential area along with the current facility should be moved because of health hazards. It was stated that such a facility would require an environmental clearance certificate.
Work is already establishing a new STP in a residential area. This contravenes legal requirements. These STPs are not being stopped despite many pleas to the authorities, and work has already established additional STPs. As a result, there is now a serious threat to the public’s health. The Umiya Dham Complex is also close to STP.
