Jabalpur’s Gaur River is now so contaminated with dung and refuses that it has become unsuitable for Fish and even for washing.
The Narmada is the lifeline of Madhya Pradesh but it is getting polluted at an unprecedented scale. The Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board has placed before the National Green Tribunal a report which reveals that the Narmada River is polluted most by the effluents from the City of Jabalpur. 136 million litres per day of effluents are discharged in the River.
According to the report the pollution levels in major cities along the banks of the Narmada River is as follows-
Jabalpur-136mld, Bhedaghat-0.63 mld, Onkareshwar-0.32 mld, Maheswar-4.8 mld, Barwaha-3.2 mld, Badwani-3.6 mld, Nemawar-0.98 mld, Budni-1.5 mld, Hoshangabad-10 mld, Khelghat-1.7 mld, and Dharampuri-1.7 mld. [mld-million litres per day]
Spawning colonies all along the banks of the River Narmada are all discharging their waste and effluents straight into the river. Conniving municipal authorities pay scant attention to checking if the effluents are treated before they are discharged into the river. There are at least 100 apartments housing thousands of flats in Gwarighat which discharge their wastes straight into the Narmada River.
Along the banks of the river, there are 50 party lawns along the banks of river Narmada which also discharge the waste into the river. The same situation is present in Tilhari where multi-storey apartments abound but there is no proper effluent treatment plant. The effluents are discharged untreated into Gaur River which is a tributary of Narmada River.
The situation is aggravated by the Dairies which abound on the banks of Gaur River. The River is now so contaminated with dung and refuses that it has become unsuitable for Fish and even for washing. Recently a writ petition has been put forth before the National Green Tribunal by NGO Dr P.G.Nagpande, Rajat Bhargava, and Deepanshu Sahu which asked for immediate action to stop pollution of the Narmada River.
The NGT has asked all Collectors to demarcate the flooding Zones and remove all encroachments along the banks of the river. It also asked the collectors to ensure the quality of the river water is maintained. However, the ground situation is that no visible efforts have been taken to reduce the effluent flow into the rivers or improve the quality of the river ecosystem.