Ghaziabad, Sept. 11 -- The Uttar Pradesh government in an affidavit has told the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday that the sewage treatment plants (STPs) in the Hindon basin will have a capacity of 1236.5 million litres per day (MLD) by 2027. The tribunal was informed this while apprising that there is a gap of 285.43 MLD in the installed and utilised capacity of the 20 STPs in seven districts, including Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Ghaziabad, Baghpat, Saharanpur, and Gautam Budh Nagar, for which STPs are proposed and work is on for laying sewer lines and household connections. "To bridge the gap of 285.43 MLD, seven STPs of total capacity of 283 MLD are proposed, and also works related to the laying of sewer lines and household connections are in progress. After completion of the projects, a total capacity of 1236.5 MLD will be available by March 2027," said the acting UP chief secretary Deepak Kumar in the affidavit. UP officials also apprised the NGT that the total sewage generation in the river Hindon basin is about 943.63 MLD while 20 STPs with an installed capacity of 953.5 MLD have been installed, but these are currently utilising the capacity of 658.2 MLD. The affidavit was filed over a petition filed by environmentalist Abhist Kusum Gupta raising concerns about pollution marring the river and its tributaries. During a hearing on January 24, the counsels of the UP submitted that a fresh affidavit will be filed by UP chief secretary keeping in view the tribunal's observations and time-bound schedule for completing action in pursuance to the action plan submitted by Central Pollution Control Board. The CPCB, along with its report on July 9, 2024, filed in a connected petition related to dumping of waste in Hindon, had enclosed an action plan "Pollution Source Mapping of River Hindon and its Tributaries and Restoration Plan for Polluted Stretches".The plan was prepared in August 2023....