A major English problem is illegal sewage discharges by water companies, which the government regulator, the Environment Agency fails to address. An industry insider told the BBC that the regulator was not the guardian but “the biggest threat to the future of water quality”.
In Britain, voluntary efforts are made by the Rivers Trust, with its 63 members trusts in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, to address raw sewage in rivers, chemical and other pollution and loss of function: flooding and drought.
In 2023, CHS-Sachetan reported that public-spirited Indian military veterans in the Veterans Forum for Transparency in Public Life asked India’s National Green Tribunal, which adjudicates environmental cases, to assess the problem after examining the water quality in the Sirsa and Sutlej rivers, in Himachal Pradesh.
In that northern state, one of the country’s pharma industry hubs, they discovered that samples taken near the drug plants were contaminated with high concentrations of antibiotic residue, including Ciprofloxacin, Ofloxacin, and Azithromycin (Financial Times).
The theme for World Wetlands Day (WWD) 2024 was Wetlands and Human beings. Its reports on top ten wetlands (other than protected Ramsar Wetlands) reveals that most of the wetlands and dependent people in India continue to be subject of degradation and neglect, primarily due to absence of holistic restoration plans and clearly defined wetlands governance (SANDRP: South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People).
SANDRP reports that citizen groups in Mumbai including Vanshakti, Save Navi Mumbai Environment Group, NatConnect and others have for years been making significant efforts to save the remaining wetlands and mangroves in and around Mumbai from ill-conceived developmental projects and abuses. They have had some successes and faced many dead-end situations but carried on the cause of wetlands and mangroves.
SANDRP points out that 2024 is the golden jubilee year of the Water Pollution Act of 1974 which led to creation of state and central pollution control boards. Unfortunately, as has happened under Britain’s ineffective regulatory bodies, India’s institutions have abjectly failed to achieve cleaner rivers or other water bodies, their state only getting worse with every passing year.
Both countries urgently need to review and revamp the law and governance of these institutions to make their performance more efficient, democratic, transparent and accountable.
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CHS-SACHETAN 