The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will apply for a no objection certificate (NOC) from the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) to run the food court in Huda City Centre Metro station on Monday. This will be the third time that the DMRC will apply for the certificate.
The application is being submitted as the board sent a closure notice to the food court in March this year after it found that pollutants in the treated water were above the permissible limits.
The DMRC runs a food court at the Metro station and has constructed two sewage treatment plants (STPs) for treating waste water. The food court started in 2014. According to HSPCB officials, the DMRC did not seek permission from the pollution control board for operating the food court.
The notice was served as the two STPs release 25 kilolitres (kld) and 100kld waste water, respectively. While the 25-kld-capacity plant treats waste water generated from the station, the 100-kld-capacity plant treats waste water generated from the restaurants in the food court. According to the pollution board, both of them do not fulfil the pollution norms.
The pollution board has inspected the food court twice but was not satisfied with the arrangements. The first inspection was carried out in December 2015. After the inspection, the pollution control board sent a show-cause notice to the DMRC for causing water pollution.
The HSPCB has asked the DMRC to upgrade the two sewerage treatment plants and submit a compliance report.
“We will take strict action against the DMRC if we found any kind of violation this time. Once they apply for NOC, we will inspect the sewage plant,” said Bhupender Singh, regional officer, HSPCB.
“Officials of the DMRC have assured us that they will submit a compliance report on Monday regarding the sewage plant,” said Singh.
A DMRC spokesperson, meanwhile, said the corporation has resolved all issues raised by the pollution control board.
