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Secretary puts a stop to trash dumping at Phase 8-B site
The development comes in the backdrop of the HC recently directing the civic body to close the said dumping site and adopt adequate remedial measures for proper disposal of city’s waste
After being under strict monitoring and snub by Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) and National Green Tribunal (NGT) pertaining to remedial measures to be taken for proper disposal of waste in the city; secretary Ajoy Sharma on Tuesday directed Mohali municipal corporation to stop dumping garbage at Phase 8-B dumping site with immediate effect.
The development comes in the backdrop of the HC recently directing the civic body to close the said dumping site and adopt adequate remedial measures for proper disposal of city’s waste.
The corporation caters to waste disposal of about 40,289 households.
For failure to comply with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, between July 2020 and February 2022, the NGT last year had imposed an environmental penalty of ₹29 lakh on it.
Notably, Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) had allotted the Samgauli site to the MC for solid waste management around 10 years ago, but the 50-acre space is yet to be utilised.
After the stern decision by the secretary on Tuesday, the gate of the said dumping site was closed for over 70 tippers which dumped around 200 tonnes of garbage daily.
Pertinently, as per rules, the MC cannot have a dump site and rather, can only have a place for solid waste management where the garbage should be processed completely instead of piling up.
Holding a meeting with MC officials, secretary Sharma asked the corporation to segregate and treat the garbage properly at the 14 resource management centres (RMC) points in the city.
The decision comes as a major relief for the residents near the dump site and for industry, as further waste won’t be dumped at Phase 8-B dumping site.
The civic body has been asked to use the site only for bioremediation processing of the 2.5 lakh cubic metre legacy waste.
Notably, after failing six times to allot tenders for bioremediation processing, MC Mohali last month initiated the process for legacy waste departmentally. Bioremediation of city’s daily garbage, apart from the legacy waste collected at the 10-acre landfill since the past 15 years, was stalled in January this year after previous contract expired. In absence of the facilitty for over a year, the daily waste was getting dumped at the landfill without processing.
“We have the required machinery and are following the court orders to expedite waste processing procedure, we have also hired adequate workers. We have been able to reduce waste at the dumping site,” an MC officer said, adding that strict directions have been received to collect the segregated waste from the homes and process the same at the RMC points for composting out of the wet waste and processing plastic and other such material from the dry waste.
Meanwhile MC commissioner Navjot Kaur said, “We have already started wind rose process to treat excessive garbage left out at RMC points at Jagatpura land of around 1.5 acre. We welcome the decision as it was the need of the hour to get rid of the dumping sites across the state.”
On plea moved by Mohali society
The court had been hearing a plea, pending since 2006, in which a Mohali society had approached the HC alleging non-treatment, and ineffective treatment of solid waste by the authorities, which had led to stench engulfing the area. The case was disposed off in 2012 after authorities promised to take requisite steps. As nothing changed on ground, the residents moved the court again in 2019 for reviving the plea. Since then, the court has been monitoring various steps taken by authorities.
