CPCB report: NGT slams UP body, asks if it disputes water contamination finding
New Delhi, Feb 19 (PTI): The National Green Tribunal on Wednesday slammed the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, asking whether it disputed the Central Pollution Control Board’s finding on high levels of faecal coliform being found in the water at various locations in Prayagraj during the ongoing Mahakumbh.
A bench comprising NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Judicial Member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and Expert Member A Senthil Vel was hearing the issue of preventing sewage discharge into the Ganga and Yamuna rivers in Prayagraj.
Additional advocate general Garima Prashad said the CPCB did not inform it about the places from where the water samples were taken.
The bench however asked her if the UPPCB was disputing or challenging the report and said there was no statutory requirement for the CPCB to provide information before taking samples.
The bench also slammed the UPPCB saying the sample collection points did not matter and that it was enough that the stretch of the river was polluted.
Prashad also informed the bench that UPPCB had filed an action-taken report on February 18 to which the bench said that faecal coliform levels were not mentioned in the report and that the report related to dates before January 12.
The AAG assured the bench that the state was taking corrective measures and a new report would be filed within a week.
Advocate Saurabh Tiwari appeared as the petitioner in the case.
The CPCB previously informed the NGT that various locations in Prayagraj during the ongoing Mahakumbh were not conforming to the primary water quality for bathing with respect to the level of faecal coliform.
Faecal coliform, a marker of sewage contamination, has a permissible limit of 2,500 units per 100 ml, according to the CPCB.
"The river water quality was not conforming to the primary water quality for bathing with respect to faecal coliform (FC) at all the monitored locations on various occasions.
A large number of people took holy dips in the river at Prayagraj during the Mahakumbh Mela, including on auspicious bathing days, which eventually leads to an increase in faecal concentration, the report said.
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Four booked for tying 18-year-old to tree, beating him up in UP's Pratapgarh
Pratapgarh (UP) (PTI): Four people were booked here for the abduction and assault of a man who they allegedly tied to a tree and beat up, police said on Wednesday.
The incident, a video of which has gone viral, took place on Tuesday afternoon under the Kunda police station limits.
The FIR was registered on Wednesday evening based on a complaint from the victim's father.
According to Keshav Prasad Yadav, a resident of Mauli village, some people called his 18-year-old son Nikhil Yadav on the phone and asked him to come out of his house around 2.30 pm on Tuesday.
As he reached outside the village as instructed, the accused allegedly forced him into a car and took him towards the Tinpedwa forest area, where they tied him to a tree and assaulted, the complainant said.
The attackers also recorded a video of the incident and circulated it on social media. The purported video shows the men thrashing Nikhil one after another, while one of them is assumed to have recorded the act.
Kunda Station House Officer Manoj Pandey confirmed the incident and said efforts are underway to identify and arrest all the accused.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has shared the video on social media, describing the incident as reflective of a "dominant mindset" against the PDA (Pichda or Backward, Dalit, and Alpasankhyak or Minority), and demanded strict action against the accused.
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