Kanpur: District magistrate Mahendra Singh Tanwar on Wednesday constituted a seven-member district-level committee to ensure the safe and scientific disposal of contaminated sludge stored at the 130 MLD sewage treatment plant (STP) complex in Jajmau.The committee will examine all aspects of the matter, identify individuals and entities responsible for the pollution, and fix liability under the Polluter Pays Principle. It will also recommend appropriate action against those found responsible.The DM directed the committee to submit a detailed investigation report through the divisional director of the Social Forestry Division. The committee comprises the divisional director of the Social Forestry Division, Kanpur Nagar; nominated officials from the Kanpur Municipal Corporation, Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam (Rural and Urban), and the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board; IIT-Kanpur civil engineering professor Manoj Kumar Tiwari; and Rizwan Nadri, secretary of Jateta, Jajmau.Ajit Kumar Suman, regional officer of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, Kanpur, told TOI that the National Green Tribunal had directed authorities to recover the cost of sludge disposal under the Polluter Pays Principle. He said the committee would identify those responsible for the pollution and recover the cost of disposal accordingly.Another pollution control board officer, Saurabh Hari Singhania, said the sludge had accumulated over the past one year and was domestic in nature. He said Jal Nigam earlier used to dry the sludge in its own drying beds. However, the drying beds were removed during the upgradation of the plant, making disposal difficult.
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