The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday directed the Delhi Chief Secretary and the Lieutenant-Governor to convene a meeting to fix an alternative landfill site and find land to set up waste to energy plants in the Capital, and submit a report within two weeks.
The Tribunal also told the authorities that they cannot award work for commercial projects till the landfill site has been finalised.
Coming down heavily on the corporations and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), a Bench headed by NGT chairperson Swatanter Kumar said: “It is unfortunate that all public authorities have taken a number of hearings without coming up with constructive suggestions to deal with waste in Delhi. It is a case of irresponsible attitude by concerned stakeholders. We hope that the L-G and the Chief Secretary will expedite the process.”
Blame game
Restraining the authorities from awarding further work for commercial activities, the Bench said: “We direct that till the sites for waste management are earmarked and finalised, all the authorities including the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC), the DDA and the corporations, shall not award work for construction of commercial buildings.”
Further, the green panel observed that at a time when the city was grappling with managing the huge amount of waste generated as a result of rapid development and massive urbanisation, the authorities were only indulging in a ‘blame game’.
“We are pained to know that all that happens is shifting of responsibility. We fail to understand why the authorities cannot put concerted efforts to resolve the issue with respect to site selection. It is a collective responsibility” said the Bench.
Saturation point
“The landfill sites have reached their saturation points. While the permissible height of the landfill sites is 20 metres, it has now reached a height of 65 metres. The sites are being put to fire and improper handling of municipal waste dumped at the sites has even resulted in the deaths of two people” added the Bench.
Earlier, the green panel had told the DSIIDC and the civic bodies to set up an integrated plant at Rani Khera.
