Management of municipal solid waste is always a challenge for the civic agencies and the Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam seems to have identified two new sites for dumping of waste on the banks of the Hindon.
The blatant violation of environmental norms by the Nigam invited strong disapproval of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday, which was appalled looking at the photographs of waste being dumped and burnt by the river.
“We direct that the District Magistrate, Ghaziabad, Commissioner of Nagar Nigam, Ghaziabad, and vice-chairman of the Ghaziabad Development Authority should be present before the tribunal on the next date of hearing,” said the Bench headed by NGT chairperson Swatanter Kumar.
“This direction is necessitated for the fact that whosoever is responsible, all the departments of the government are expected to act in coordination with each other and ensure that there is no environmental degradation and pollution caused by such activities as is evident even from the photographs of the massive dumping of waste on the river banks and the same is even being burnt openly,” the Bench said.
Vikrant Sharma of Hindon Jal Biradari told The Hindu that the Nigam has been dumping waste on the banks of the Hindon near Raj Nagar extension road in Ghaziabad and also near a water plant at NH-24.
He said the waste is literally falling into the river.
The petitioner, Krishna Pal, who moved the NGT, is the coordinator of Hindon Jal Biradari.
The Nigam, however, tried to defend itself before the tribunal by shifting the responsibility on the irrigation department saying the area shown in the photographs furnished by the petitioner falls under the latter’s jurisdiction.
It, however, failed to convince the tribunal which disapproved of the attitude of the officers of the Nigam in not turning up before the Bench.
