New Delhi, Feb 28 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Friday expressed shock over the absence of treatment units in 16 industrial areas in the national capital and said effluents were flowing freely in River Yamuna without treatment.

A bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Manmeet PS Arora said the condition was "quite serious" and "abysmal" indicating an imminent need to install common effluent treatment plants (CETP) in all 33 industrial areas in Delhi.

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"In effect, therefore, 16 industrial areas in Delhi do not have any CETPs. This is a shocking revelation to say the least. In these 16 areas, effluents are freely flowing without any treatment," the bench said.

The court went on, "The condition is quite serious and abysmal which would therefore lead this court to the question as to how the solution is to be arrived at, to ensure that all the water flowing into the river is fully treated and does not cause pollution in the river."

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The bench referred to a Supreme Court order directing the installation of CETPs in all industrial areas.

The court said an affidavit filed by the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) on the functioning of CETPs revealed an "extremely sorry state of affairs".

Regarding the CETPs in Narela and Bawana under the control of DSIIDC, the bench said the corporation was taking requisite steps of monitoring the effluents, carrying out testing on a daily basis and following protocols.

"The ideal situation would therefore be that such monitoring happens in all CETPs in all industrial areas," it added.

The court had sought information from DSIIDC on curbs of flow of untreated water flowing into Yamuna and asked it to state if all the industries and their effluent came within its jurisdiction.

The court, which was dealing with the matter over waterlogging in the capital, took note of the status of the 37 sewage treatment plants (STPs) for domestic and residential areas and said the delay in installation of "flow meters" in 11 such plants revealed an "unsatisfactory position".

On Friday, the court granted time to the Delhi Jal Board to install flow meters in the remaining STPs.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)