The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board ( MPCB) member secretary Radheshyam Mopalwar on Saturday stated that 70 per cent of the water pollution in the state is due to domestic sewage. He made the observation during a presentation at the international conference on healthy cities organised by the Bhanuben Nanavati College of architecture.

“It’s a myth that industrial effluent is a bigger contributor towards pollution of water resources. The fact is that domestic waste is a bigger problem. Nearly 218 out of the 219 municipal bodies in the state release untreated sewage in water bodies. There is a big gap that has to be met,” Mopalwar said.

Speaking about the city, Mopalwar said he recently had a meeting with municipal commissioner Mahesh Zagade who has promised that 100 per cent sewage generated in the city will be treated by 2012.

“The commissioner has assured to abide by his word. But there are many other cities where this is a major problem and we are working on various alternatives to resolve this either by penalties or prosecution. Public pressure also needs to be built to change the scenario,” Mopalwar said.

The other contributors towards environmental pollution are urbanisation, increasing vehicular traffic, non-processing of solid waste and also citizens’ lifestyles. “Our lifestyles contribute in a big way to pollution. The consumption pattern of people has changed, which has created different kind of problems. We as citizens have an intra-generation responsibility, which means the future generations must not suffer because of our acts today. The resources are fast depleting,” Mopalwar said.

Other areas which urgently need to be looked into are the solid waste management issues. “Despite Supreme Court judgment of 1999 and municipal solid waste rules of 2000, we are nowhere close to addressing the issue. A lot remains to be done. A healthy city will be created when all these issues will be tackled,” Mopalwar said.

Source: Times Of India