The municipal corporation, which is already facing brickbats after the industrial town slid in swachhta rankings, has now been pulled up by the monitoring committee of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for failing to carry out waste segregation in the city.
The committee members also slammed the civic body for failing to kick off the project to dispose of around 20-lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste at the main dump site on Tajpur Road.
The committee led by its chairperson, retired justice Jasbir Singh, carried out inspections in the city on Thursday to verify the municipal corporation’s claims pertaining to solid waste management under its environmental action plan. Environmentalists such as Balbir Seechewal, and Babu Ram were also part of the committee that carried out inspections.
The committee members inspected four static compactors and secondary dumps in Block J of Sarabha Nagar, the Jawahar Nagar camp near Chatter Singh park in Model Town and Rishi Nagar. The team noted that waste segregation was not seen in any of the 40 secondary dump sites in the city.
Justice Singh (retd) said, “There is some improvement, but waste segregation is not taking place. Authorities have been directed to focus on segregation, otherwise NGT will take action against them and penalties can also be imposed in the coming time.”
{{/usCountry}}Justice Singh (retd) said, “There is some improvement, but waste segregation is not taking place. Authorities have been directed to focus on segregation, otherwise NGT will take action against them and penalties can also be imposed in the coming time.”
{{/usCountry}}He also appealed residents to cooperate with the MC by handing over segregated wet and dry waste to the garbage collectors.
Seechewal said,” The MC has been claiming that waste segregation is going on in majority areas of the city, but nothing is being done on ground level. The matter will be taken up by the NGT during the next hearing and the tribunal will then take suitable action.”
Green belts get praise
However, the monitoring committee did appreciate the municipal corporation for transforming the two dump sites into green belts in Kochar market area and Rishi Nagar.
The teams also inspected the ongoing work of establishing a sewer treatment plant (STP) in Jamalpur area to reduce pollution in the Buddha Nullah. A dyeing unit was also inspected to check dumping of untreated waste by the unit owner in the industrial area near Cheema Chowk, but the unit was not operational.
Meanwhile, the MC field staff could be seen cleaning some secondary dump sites ahead of the committee’s visit.
No processing of waste at dump site
With over 20 lakh metric tonnes of waste dumped at the main dump site on Tajpur Road, the committee slammed the MC for not taking steps to dispose of the waste, despite the waste polluting air and water in the area.
No processing of waste is being done on the site after A2Z company terminated its contract with the MC on February 4. Over 1,100 metric tonnes of waste is generated in the city on a daily basis and the waste is accumulating on the site.
Residents have been raising hue and cry over frequent fire incidents reported at the dump site due to emission of highly combustible methane gas, which causes air pollution. Fire had also broken out at the site before the visit of the committee and a fire brigade was deployed to douse the flames. MC officials say the process to hire a firm has been initiated.
Earlier this year, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) had imposed a penalty of ₹1.8 crore on the MC for failing to deal with legacy waste and bank guarantees of ₹21 lakh were also imposed over its failure to take up solid waste management in the city.
The committee members said that the penalty can increase if required steps are not taken in the coming time.