NGT panel moots Rs 5 lakh-per-inlet penalty to BMC for Powai Lake lapses

Mumbai: Flagging a series of non-compliances by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in checking untreated sewage flowing into iconic Powai Lake of Mumbai, a National Green Tribunal (NGT)-mandated committee has recommended that the civic body face a penalty of Rs 5 lakh per month per inlet if the new action plan is violated.

The recommendation is part of the Joint Committee report submitted to the NGT, which is hearing a case concerning the continued discharge of untreated sewage into the lake.

Following an earlier NGT ruling in a petition by Vanashakti in 2021, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) had issued several directions to the BMC to ensure that untreated sewage must not enter the lake, but these were not complied with, the committee pointed out.

The fresh case began when Powai resident Dr Rakesh Bakshi sent a letter-petition to the Tribunal in March 2025 highlighting the condition of the lake.

The NGT Principal Bench took suo motu cognisance of the letter, constituted a Joint Committee of CPCB, MPCB and the Maharashtra State Wetland Authority, and transferred the matter to the Western Zone Bench at Pune.

Parallelly, NatConnect Foundation and the BMC-appointed Advanced Local Management (ALM) committee mounted a campaign to save the lake, a 210-hectare wetland listed in the National Wetland Inventory and ground-truthed by the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management. NatConnect also escalated the issue to the Prime Minister’s Office with a request to accord Ramsar site status to the lake. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has referred the representation to the State Wetland Authority.

According to the Joint Committee, Powai Lake continues to receive about 18 million litres per day of untreated sewage through 19 culverts and two drains. The committee stated that MPCB had earlier issued directions in 2021 and later, asking the BMC to stop the inflow and divert the sewage to treatment plants, but the problem continues.

The committee has requested that the Tribunal order compensation of Rs 5 lakh per month per inlet, applicable from February 2020, for any continuing discharge of untreated sewage.

The BMC has now outlined fresh steps that include laying new sewer lines and installing interceptors to collect sewage before it reaches the lake. A new 8 MLD sewage treatment plant has been proposed at the abandoned Powai pumping station. Other inflows are planned to be diverted to the Bhandup and Mithi River treatment plants. The committee noted that the works have not yet started on the ground and that the tender process is still in progress.

Short-term measures taken by the civic body include removal of water hyacinth, installation of aerators and real-time dissolved oxygen monitors.

The Joint Committee has recommended that the BMC start in-situ treatment at all sewage entry points. This includes microbial dosing and other suitable drain-based pollution reduction systems, to be used until long-term infrastructure becomes operational.

It advised the BMC to remove silt from the lakebed after sewage diversion is completed. The committee also suggested strengthening aeration along the shoreline and increasing monitoring of dissolved oxygen. It said that scientific restoration of the lake should be carried out in consultation with research institutions once pollution sources are controlled.

The Joint Committee report has been signed by Nishchal C. of the CPCB, Rakesh Dafade of the MPCB and Dr Y. B. Sontakke of the Maharashtra State Wetland Authority.

The NGT Bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh (Judicial Member) and Dr Sujit Kumar Bajpayee (Expert Member) noted that the BMC had not filed its response to the Tribunal’s notice dated 19 September 2025. The civic body has been given two more weeks to submit its reply. 

The Bench has posted the next hearing for February 12, 2026.