The Supreme Court has stayed orders of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) levying a fine of ₹5 crore and a performance guarantee of ₹100 crore on the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
After media reports highlighted the poor waste management in the city last year, the NGT formed a team to visit the BMC-run dumping grounds in Deonar, Mulund and Kanjurmarg. The team consisted of members of the Central and State pollution control boards, district collectors and civic officers.
Rules flouted
The team found that the BMC had flouted the municipal solid waste management rules of 2016 and imposed a fine of ₹5 crore on it for improper waste disposal at Deonar. The NGT team in its report said the “damage to the environment and public health is self-evident” at the three dumping grounds. The report said, “There is no leachate collection and waste treatment plant. Fire incidents have also taken place.”
On October 30, the Principal Bench of the NGT in New Delhi ordered the BMC to deposit ₹5 crore as compensation for environmental damage. On December 21, it directed the BMC to furnish ₹100 crore as performance guarantee for a year.
The BMC then filed two special leave petitions in the Supreme Court. The petitions came up for hearing on January 7 and the court ordered a stay on the NGT orders until further orders. J.J. Xavier, law officer of the BMC, said, “We told the court that the order was passed without hearing the BMC. The matter is sub judice in the High Court and its committee is monitoring our efforts. The court then granted us a stay in both matters.”
An officer from the solid waste management department said, “Under the High Court-appointed committee’s supervision, we have taken steps to resolve the city’s solid waste problem. We have shut down the Mulund dumping ground, raised the processing capacity of the treatment plant at Kanjurmarg, made waste segregation compulsory, and penalised bulk generators who did not carry out composting.”
Waste-to-energy plant
The BMC has decided to start a waste-to-energy plant at Deonar and allowed contractors to carry out a survey at the dumping ground to understand its composition of waste. The contractors had requested for the survey before bidding for the waste-to-energy project.
