New Delhi: In a major step to curb industrial pollution in India’s most critical rivers, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and state pollution regulators in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Bihar to take immediate action against more than 1,700 Grossly Polluting Industries (GPIs) allegedly discharging untreated effluents into the Ganga and Yamuna.
A Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member Dr. Afroz Ahmad issued the directive while hearing a plea filed by Md Imran Ahmad, who appeared in person.
The applicant alleged that several GPIs had failed to comply with the CPCB’s directives mandating the installation of Online Continuous Effluent Monitoring Systems (OCEMS, a real-time surveillance mechanism for monitoring industrial discharge.
According to an RTI response cited in the petition, all GPIs releasing more than 10 kilolitres of effluents per day must install OCEMS to monitor parameters like pH, flow, Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), and Total Suspended Solids (TSS). Smaller units are required to install flow meters and web cameras at discharge points.
The application also referred to CPCB communications listing 704 non-compliant units in Uttar Pradesh, 812 in Haryana, 21 in Bihar, and 149 in Delhi, while alleging that state pollution control boards and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) had failed to take sufficient action despite repeated reminders.
Noting the “large number of defaulting industries” and the ongoing discharge of untreated effluents into vital water bodies, the Tribunal emphasized that the matter required “urgent regulatory intervention.”
“We are of the view that CPCB and concerned PCBs/PCCs are required to take prompt action to ensure that GPIs, which are required to have OCEMS, do not commit the default and install the same without any delay,” the Bench observed.
The NGT directed the CPCB Chairperson to act on the applicant’s representation submitted in March 2025 and to issue strict instructions to state boards and the DPCC for the immediate installation and monitoring of OCEMS in all defaulting industries.
Further, the Tribunal directed the Member Secretaries of state boards and DPCC to submit compliance reports to the CPCB within two months. The CPCB has also been tasked with taking “appropriate remedial and punitive action” against defaulting units and submitting a consolidated compliance report to the NGT Registrar General for further review.
The order underscores the NGT’s continuing efforts to tighten environmental oversight and enforce pollution control measures in India’s industrial sectors, particularly in regions impacting the Ganga and Yamuna river systems.
