Waste on Yamuna bank: NGT warns of penalty

Observing that adequate steps against dumping of unregulated solid waste on the banks of river Yamuna were not being taken by authorities, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has warned of imposing environmental compensation on the Uttar Pradesh government.

Taking note of a report furnished by authorities, a Bench headed by NGT chief Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said, “Such action can hardly be held to be enough in the face of serious continued violation of rules for compliance, of which statutory liability is also of higher authorities.”

Referring to recommendations put forth by an NGT-appointed oversight committee, the Bench said, “It is clear that steps taken so far are not adequate. The committee has found that arrangement for leachate collection has not been made. Leachate drain was found choked, processing capacity is just enough to cater to day to day processing and is unable to tackle legacy waste.”

The green panel specified that recommendations made by the committee had to be followed including bio-remediation and that in case of non-compliance, a fine will be levied on the authorities.

The observations came when the Tribunal was hearing a plea, which alleged that illegal disposal of solid waste on the Yamuna floodplains in Vrindavan was affecting the environment adversely.