NGT order continues to be flouted in Chitlapakkam

CHENNAI: Despite NGT’s order following an article by Express, Chitlapakkam town panchayat is still lagging behind in regular garbage collection, source segregation and shifting of the solid waste management resource recovery park.

Citing Express’s article dated September 24 and subsequent articles on non-compliance of NGT order to follow Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, the court mentioned timeline for betterment of the current scenario in its final order. 

According to the order, the town panchayat must shift the SWM resource recovery park by June 30 and set up a resource recovery centre. However, works has not commenced yet.  “The resource recovery park is on the Chitlapakkam lakebed. Often plastic and other garbage find their way from recovery centre into the lake. After numerous appeals, NGT ordered that the park must be shifted. However, no action has been taken,” said Dayanand Krishnan, a local resident.

The court also ordered to implement the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, by January 31. By the deadline, 100 per cent source segregation apart from regular garbage collection should have been achieved. However, since the pandemic, civic issues took a back seat.

While source segregation is not happening at all, waste is also not being collected regularly.Residents say trash is only being collected once or twice in a week, due to which waste is piling up on the roads. When contacted, the local panchayat official said works got delayed due to Covid and that the shifting of the resource recovery park will begin soon.