SRINAGAR: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the Government of Jammu and Kashmir over the construction of a Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) at Khadi Mill ground in Alouchibagh, Srinagar, following objections from residents of the adjoining Friends Colony.
The petitioners, led by Bhupender Singh and others, have alleged that the STP is being constructed in violation of environmental norms and at an unsafe distance from residential houses.
Appearing before the NGT Principal Bench, senior counsel and environmental lawyer Advocate Saurabh Sharma submitted that the proposed STP is located just 5 to 10 metres from some houses in the locality. He also referred to an inspection by officials of the J&K Pollution Control Committee (JKPCC), which reportedly found the proposed plant to be around 25 metres from residential structures, against a claimed minimum siting distance of 500 metres.
The NGT order records that the JKPCC had issued a Consent to Establish (CTE) for the STP at the site on March 20, 2026, but rescinded it on May 21, 2026.
The petitioners have also challenged the suitability of the site, arguing that Khadi Mill ground is a low-lying and flood-prone area adjacent to the Flood Spill Channel. They submitted that the area was completely inundated during the 2014 floods and that locating an STP there could pose health and environmental risks to nearby residents.
The applicants also relied upon a January 29, 2026 communication from the Regional Director, JKPCC, Kashmir, addressed to the Superintending Engineer of the Urban Environmental Engineering Department (UEED), Srinagar. According to the petitioners, the communication raises issues concerning the siting criteria and also refers to noise-related conditions under the CTE.
The tribunal was also informed about a July 1, 2026 order of the Division Bench of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh in Residents of Allochi Bagh & Ors. vs UT of Jammu & Kashmir & Others. The applicants submitted that they were not members of the association involved in that case and argued that the High Court had directed that the STP could be established at the proposed site only in accordance with applicable norms and regulations.
Finding that the application raised a substantial issue concerning compliance with environmental norms, the NGT directed notices to the respondents and sought their responses by way of affidavits before the next hearing.
The tribunal also directed the applicants to serve the respondents and file an affidavit confirming service.
The matter has been listed for further hearing before the NGT Principal Bench on November 25, 2026.
The Alouchibagh controversy is linked to a larger project for treating wastewater entering the Doodhganga stream. Two STPs, estimated to cost around Rs 140 crore, are being established pursuant to proceedings before the NGT in Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat vs J&K Government and Others (OA No. 241/2021).
One of the plants is coming up at Kralpora, Chadoora, while the second is proposed at Alouchibagh, Srinagar. Work on the Kralpora project is proceeding, while the Alouchibagh site has faced opposition from residents over its proximity to homes and its location in an area they describe as a flood-prone zone.
