The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has pulled up the Haryana government for not taking requisite action on a plea seeking remedial action against illegal dumping of garbage by restaurants in Murthal.
The green panel directed the Haryana Chief Secretary to take remedial measures, including action against erring officers.
Compliance status
A Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said, “We find that beyond saying that action will be taken by the State of Haryana in terms of standard operating procedure issued by the CPCB [Central Pollution Control Board], there is no mention of compliance status.”
Taken it lightly
“The authorities appear to have taken the matter lightly treating the filing of a status report to be a formality. The tribunal expected meaningful action on the ground level which has not been taken in spite of long time available after the last hearing and finalisation of the SOP by the CPCB long back,” the Bench said.
The Chief Secretary was also directed to furnish a compliance report by October 22.
The directions came when the green panel was hearing a plea moved by petitioner Abhay Dahiya and others against illegal dumping and burning of garbage and discharge of untreated water by several establishments, including restaurants.
Earlier, the tribunal had directed authorities to expedite the setting up of solid waste treatment plant for the management of waste generated by the restaurants and had questioned why a decentralised treatment plant had not been set up by the eateries in the area.
