NEW DELHI, April 6: — The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has pulled up the Punjab government over serious lapses in sewage and solid waste management, directing the state’s chief secretary to file an affidavit with a fresh action-taken report.
During a hearing on March 26, the Tribunal observed that untreated sewage continues to flow into rivers, ponds, and low-lying areas, raising red flags over its impact on groundwater. It sought a detailed, time-bound plan from all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to bridge the treatment gap.
Solid waste management remains equally grim. The state still holds 47.75 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of legacy waste, with Amritsar, Ludhiana, and Jalandhar accounting for 40.23 LMT alone. Despite claims that 119 of 166 ULBs have cleared their dump sites, the Tribunal noted the absence of complete data on the number and area of dump sites.
A 765-tonnes-per-day (TPD) shortfall in processing wet waste was also flagged. Of the 2,295 TPD generated, only 1,912 TPD is being treated through composting, animal feed, home composting, and biogas. Similarly, dry waste processing lags by 383 TPD.
On liquid waste, the Tribunal found a sewage treatment gap of 235.92 million litres per day (MLD). Punjab has 150 sewage treatment plants with a cumulative capacity of 1,983.99 MLD, against a total sewage load of 2,219.19 MLD.
The NGT has ordered the state to furnish ULB-wise data on waste generation, processing, and shortfall in the next report.
