The National Green Tribunal on Friday asked the governments of Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal to pay penalties of Rs 25 lakh each in a month for not acting enough to prevent the continued damage to the Ganga river, PTI reported.

The tribunal said Bihar had practically made no progress as not a single sewage infrastructure project had been completed. In West Bengal, only three of 22 projects had been completed, and Jharkhand had also not done enough to clean up the river, the tribunal said.

The green tribunal said that the states’ insensitivity in a serious matter is a matter of concern. The penalties paid by the states may be spent on restoration of the environment, it said.

The NGT added that discharge of effluents is a criminal offence and instructed the Uttar Pradesh government to forbid any industrial activity that would contribute to the pollution.

The tribunal had earlier said that even a drop of pollution in the Ganga is a point of concern and that all the authorities should focus on strict measures to protect the river. The panel had earlier said that people drank and bathed in the Ganga out of reverence but are unaware of the adverse effects on their health.