What the tribunal asked agencies to explain about the Gomti in Lucknow

By Gomti River Editorial

A field survey helped bring scrutiny to sewage and poor water quality in the Gomti. The tribunal sought responses from five agencies. The public record still needs comparable measurements that show whether the river is improving.

The survey that brought the Gomti to the tribunal

On 4 May 2025, Hindustan Times correspondent Anupam Srivastava reported on water quality in the Lucknow stretch of the Gomti. His reporting drew in part on a joint April survey involving environmental scientist Venkatesh Dutta, university students, Lucknow Municipal Corporation and the Ecological Task Force. The team reported bubbling downstream of the Sarkata drain and raised concerns about sewage entering the river. The article also cited monitoring results from several locations. Those results describe the period covered by the reporting. Hindustan Times, 4 May 2025

The National Green Tribunal’s Principal Bench took up the report on its own initiative as Original Application 234/2025. On 13 May 2025 it sought replies by affidavit from the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam, Central Pollution Control Board, National Mission for Clean Ganga and the regional office of the Union environment ministry. On 15 May 2026 the bench considered the case alongside related Lucknow matters and directed the registry to take fresh steps to serve parties in those matters. 13 May 2025 order · Tribunal’s memo of parties · 15 May 2026 order

What to look for in the next public records

Follow the evidence from the drain to the treatment plant and back to the river. For each major outfall, publish dated measurements of sewage flow, the volume actually intercepted and treated, and comparable water samples upstream and downstream. Identify the agency responsible and its next deadline. These records would let residents and researchers test whether a reported intervention changed conditions at the river.

A separate case from Bahraich

Dutta’s Civil Society article “Map and Save Water Bodies” appeared in May 2023. It led to a separate tribunal case, OA 214/2024, concerning encroachment and pollution around Baghel Tal in the Uttar Pradesh Terai. In December 2024 the tribunal noted a discrepancy between the area shown in the wetlands portal and the land categories identified in a committee report. In April 2025 it sought an affidavit on protection and rejuvenation from the State Wetland Authority and a water-quality analysis from the state pollution board. In November 2025 it asked for fresh reports, including a recheck of whether untreated sewage had stopped reaching the wetland. The case shows why boundary records and water sampling both matter when judging whether a wetland has been protected. Civil Society, May 2023, p. 24 · 10 December 2024 order · 8 April 2025 order · 6 November 2025 order

Source credit. Venkatesh Dutta shared the case material and contributed to the Gomti survey. The original reporting and the tribunal records are credited above.