Former Mohali deputy mayor Kuljit Singh Bedi has approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking directions for the completion and operationalisation of the proposed Samgauli Solid Waste Management Plant, citing the city’s worsening garbage disposal problem.
The high court has issued a notice of motion to all concerned parties for December 3 and sought a status report from the government on the project’s progress. Assistant advocate generals representing the four parties involved in the petition, including the Punjab chief secretary and Mohali deputy commissioner, accepted the notice.
In his public interest litigation (PIL), Bedi has sought coordinated and time-bound action by government agencies to make the plant operational. The petition concerns waste management across Greater Mohali, including Mohali, Zirakpur, Kharar and Dera Bassi.
According to the petition, the project was conceived in 2012 as an integrated waste management facility, for which around 50 acres in Samgauli village, Dera Bassi tehsil, was identified. However, it remains non-operational.
The petition points out that the National Green Tribunal (NGT), in an order dated January 13, 2015, had directed the authorities to complete land acquisition within a year and make the plant operational by January 2017. Despite this, the project has remained stalled. The boundary wall tender was cancelled in 2020, while the partnership with NTPC ended in 2023. Land-related legal and administrative issues also contributed to delays.
{{/usCountry}}The petition points out that the National Green Tribunal (NGT), in an order dated January 13, 2015, had directed the authorities to complete land acquisition within a year and make the plant operational by January 2017. Despite this, the project has remained stalled. The boundary wall tender was cancelled in 2020, while the partnership with NTPC ended in 2023. Land-related legal and administrative issues also contributed to delays.
{{/usCountry}}The petition states that Mohali generates around 100 to 150 metric tonnes of waste daily. The closure or restriction of operations at the Phase 8B dumping ground in 2024 further highlighted the need for a permanent disposal facility.
Bedi has also referred to the municipal corporation’s (MC) repeated requests to GMADA in 2023 and 2024 for alternative land for a sanitary landfill, citing transportation distance and costs. The petition questions the delay in the Samgauli project despite land identification and NGT directions.
It also cites around ₹29 lakh in environmental compensation imposed on the MC by the Punjab Pollution Control Board for violations of waste management rules between July 2020 and February 2022.
The PIL seeks interim directions for scientific collection, segregation, transportation and disposal of waste until the plant becomes operational. It also seeks mandatory waste management infrastructure in new sectors, including Eco City and Aerocity, and action against open dumping and burning.
Advocates Ranjivan Singh, Risham Raag Singh and Jasjot Singh represented Bedi.