Does pouring milk into river pollute it, NGT asks CPCB, MPPCB

BHOPAL: The Bhopal-based central bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and MP Pollution Control Board (MPPCB) to tell the tribunal whether pouring of milk in a river causes any pollution in its water, and if the activity is regulated by any guidelines and if not, pouring of milk in a river as part of rituals needs any guidelines or not.

Hearing a petition filed by one Siddarth Singh Rajpoot from Satdev village in Sehore district, who said that there was a religious gathering in his village and at the end of the programme, the organisers performed puja of holy river Narmada and poured 11,000 litres of milk into the river while also immersing 210 saris were into it.

During the hearing on Monday, the petitioner said that the work of pouring milk into the river is in violation to the environmental rules and damages the ecology of the river. He maintained that it will directly affect the aquatic organisms and contaminate the river water.

The act on the part of the organisers is in violation of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, the petitioner claimed.

The NGT bench comprising Justice Sheo Kumar Singh and expert member Sudhir Kumar Chaturvedi in their interim order following the hearing said that though, no scientific data with regard to the pollution of the water by pouring of milk has been placed before the tribunal, it’s clear that there is no specific dedicated CPCB guidelines explicitly banning pouring of milk under general prohibition of pollutants under section 24 of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.

The tribunal said that the question arising from the petition is whether milk poured in a river may be considered a significant organic pollutant causing aquatic mortality and depleting oxygen in the water.

The tribunal members further said that pouring of the milk into the Narmada in Madhya Pradesh on certain rituals performed by persons of specific philosophy has been a matter of debate online and thus, requires serious consideration by the CPCB or MPPCB.

The green tribunal directed that a copy of the petition and other relevant documents be sent to regional director, CPCB, based At Bhopal and member secretary, MPPCB, for seeking a report from the experts, to get scientific data on the issue and submit a report.

If it requires any guidelines, then an appropriate procedure be suggested and submitted to the tribunal, said the order while deferring hearing on the petition to July 17.