Srinagar, May 23 -- The National Green Tribunal's Principal Bench, led by Justice Prakash Srivastava and expert member Dr. Afroz Ahmad, on Thursday ordered Jammu and Kashmir's Environment and Forest Department to file a written timeline for setting up these plants. The government has eight weeks to submit this affidavit.

The problem is clear: Budgam's Municipal Council generates about 1.62 million liters of sewage every day but has no STP to treat it. Chadoora produces 4.3 million liters daily, with no treatment facility either. Srinagar's numbers are much larger - 163.5 million liters of sewage daily, but only 60 million liters are treated.

This means huge amounts of raw sewage flow directly into the Doodh Ganga and nearby water bodies...