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NGT seeks time-bound plan to clear Amritsar’s Bhagtanwala garbage dump
The National Green Tribunal demands a time-bound plan to clear Amritsar's Bhagtanwala garbage dump. Authorities must submit a fresh report by December 6.
The National Green Tribunal has directed that a time-bound plan to clear the Amritsar’s Bhagtanwala garbage dump of legacy waste be submitted in a fresh report.
Noting that the concerned authorities ‘have not responded to the relevant plea’ regarding the dump site, the green tribunal has sought a new report on it.
The panel which was hearing the matter regarding the outbreak of a major blaze in the 25-acre garbage dump, had earlier sought a reply from various authorities, including the Punjab pollution control board (PPCB).
In an order passed on Tuesday, a bench of NGT chairperson justice Prakash Shrivastava said that the PPCB’s report has disclosed that while fresh waste is being regularly deposited, the dumping site has also accumulated over 10 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of waste in the last three decades.
The board has imposed ₹4.5 crore fine on the municipal corporation of Amritsar for violating rules, it said. “The deputy commissioner (DC), Amritsar, and the commissioner, municipal corporation, Amritsar, have filed their response but they have not responded to the relevant plea relating to the existence of the dumpsite, its management and plan to clear it in a time-bound manner,” said the bench also comprising justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert member A Senthil Vel.
It noted that the counsel for the commissioner did not know whether there was any standard operating procedure (SOP) to manage the dumping site.
“Hence, we require the said respondents (both officers) to file their response clearly indicating the time-bound plan along with the fund resource to clear the dump site of the legacy waste and also the details of the daily generated waste within the municipal limits, the treatment facility available for it and the plan for filling up the gap, if any, existing in the treatment of the daily generated waste,” said the tribunal.
“Let the fresh report, by way of affidavit, keeping in view the observation made above, be filed by the DC and the commissioner within six weeks,” it added.
The matter has been posted on December 6 for further proceedings.
