Ludhiana: MC, PPCB directed to clear solid waste from undesignated sites

NGT has directed authorities to lift waste from various locations and transport them to designated waste processing sites

With garbage dumped on undesignated sites across the city, including village ponds and other water bodies, remaining to be a major issue, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the authorities to lift the waste from various locations and transport them to the designated waste processing sites.

The NGT bench said that the joint committee is directed to verify facts and furnish a factual and action-taken report on the matter within a period of two months to the NGT. (HT Photo)

The tribunal has also directed the joint committee of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), district magistrate, and the municipal corporation, Ludhiana, to ensure that no more dumping takes place other than at the designated sites and processing of waste is to be done on a day-to-day basis so that no legacy waste is left.

The residents in their petition to the NGT stated that the dumping of garbage and other waste material deep into the earth in the open excavated land near Gill village, Giaspura and Hambran is against the waste management Acts, including the solid waste management Act.

The petitioners had added that repeated incidents of burning of solid waste in the city continue to remain prevalent right under the nose of the municipal corporation and the Ludhiana Improvement Trust. They added that ponds and other water bodies in the district, which are being used for disposal of the waste, should be rejuvenated.

The complainants also listed several locations in the city and surrounding areas where undesignated garbage dumps have surfaced. They added that reverse vending machines to dispose of the first-use plastic and e-rickshaw purchased by the MC to segregate household waste at the source and transport it to the dumps have failed to show any positive effect.

The NGT bench said that the joint committee is directed to verify facts and furnish a factual and action-taken report on the matter within a period of two months to the NGT. The bench said that the state PCB will be the nodal agency for coordination and compliance.