BAREILLY: National Green Tribunal on Friday issued notice to ministry of environment and forest (MoEF), ministry of urban development, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), UP police and Moradabad district magistrate on the issue of illegal processing of e-waste on the banks of river Ramganga.The petitioner, who is a former scientist at CPCB, submitted an application stating that a team of pollution control board officials had taken limited samples in the vicinity of Ramganga on October 1, 2015. The samples of surface water, ground water, soil and sediments were collected at different locations for analysis of heavy metals. The analysis of surface water samples indicated presence of heavy metals, including iron, zinc, copper and mercury.On submission of the above report to a competent authority, CPCB directed that the samples of Ramganga be taken again during a surprise inspection. The report of the surprise inspection, conducted on March 15, 2016 reconfirmed the findings of the earlier report and establish that soil, sediment, drain and surface water along with banks of the Ramganga were contaminated with very high concentration of heavy metals due to unauthorized processing of e-waste by locals in nearby residential areas."After hearing an original application filed by former scientist of CPCB, Mahendra Pandey, NGT issued notice to the MoEF, ministry of urban development, CPCB, UPPCB, district magistrate and UP police on the issue of illegal e-waste processing going on the banks of Ramganga," said advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal, who is representing the petitioner."It was stated in the petition that CPCB also gave direction to Moradabad DM to control the illegal activities near Ramaganga but he did not take action in this connection," Bansal added.Earlier, TOI quoting a study, had reported that extremely high concentration of metals were present in the water and seeped into all fishes in Ramganga — from the river's mouth in Pauri Garhwal to Kannauj where the river merges with the Ganga. The lead level was found to be a staggering 20-25 times more than the permissible limit while cadmium was up to 15 times more than the permissible limit. The study done by Neelima Gupta, a faculty member of MJP Rohilkhand University along with UP Council for Agricultural Research (UPCAR). It found that 33.3% of the fishes in Ramganga had parasitic infection. The researcher warned lead penetrating into human beings through food chains could cause learning disabilities, impaired protein and severe anaemia while cadmium could cause renal failure and other diseases in humans.

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