Pune: The National Green Tribunal (Western Zone), Pune, has ordered constitution of a joint committee comprising representatives from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), and the Pune district collector, to verify if untreated wastewater from villages under the zilla parishad is released into the Pavana river.The tribunal passed the order on Aug 20 after hearing the conflicting claims by zilla parishad officials and the applicant, who cited the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority’s (PMRDA) admission that sewage was entering the river through nullahs. The committee has been told to inspect the site after the monsoon and submit a factual and action-taken report within three months. MPCB will be the nodal agency. The matter will be heard next on Dec 1, 2025.The order comes amid growing concern over Pavana’s pollution levels. According to MPCB, it is one of the most polluted rivers in the country, with dangerously high levels of phosphorus, nitrogen and other contaminants. Since Jan 2024, MPCB has consistently recorded biochemical oxygen demand levels above 30 mg per litre, far exceeding the priority-1 threshold of 3-6 mg/litre set by CPCB. Officials had earlier said that the river’s deteriorating quality was primarily due to domestic sewage flowing from Pimpri-Chinchwad and nearby villages, with some contribution from small industries being discharged through nullahs.The matter was heard on the basis of two applications — one filed by Krunnal Narayan Gharre and another taken up suo motu after a news report.In its reply, the zilla parishad claimed that wastewater from villages within its jurisdiction was not discharged into the river but was instead managed through kitchen gardens, individual soak pits and community-level leach pits approved by PMRDA. Gharre, however, argued that PMRDA had admitted that sewage from these villages was being carried by nullahs into the river.The NGT bench comprising justice Dinesh Kumar Singh (judicial member) and Dr Vijay Kulkarni (expert member) ordered that a joint committee be set up, and it should conduct a site visit once the monsoon subsided, in the presence of the applicant and the respondents, and verify whether wastewater from the villages was indeed entering the Pavana. The panel must also collect other relevant information, the bench said.Gharre said, “My team will be approaching more than 50 villages in the Pavana basin to collect and compile factual data. By placing verifiable, village-level information before the committee, the truth of the pollution sources will be undeniable. This citizen-backed evidence will ensure accountability and help enforce liability on those responsible.”
