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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed an environmental compensation amount of Rs 900 crore on the National Capital Territory of Delhi for the unprocessed waste lying at the three landfills in the city at Ghazipur, Bhalswa and Okhla.
According to the order issued by the NGT, “funds can be raised in appropriate manner from the generators of waste, violators, erring officers, corporates and if so necessary and so decided from a part of the land under the garbage.”
The amount deposited as environmental compensation is to be used for restoration measures to recover the land. The deposit is to be made within one month and the deposit will be the responsibility of the Chief Secretary, according to the order issued by the NGT.
The amount was calculated at the rate of Rs 300 per tonne of waste at the three landfills. According to the order, the quantity of undisposed waste at the three landfill sites is three crore tonnes. Restoration measures at the site are to include “scientific disposal” of the accumulated garbage, construction of a boundary wall, fire control measures and a leachate treatment facility. “Ground Water Authority may examine the extent of leachate flow into the groundwater on which remedial action may be taken,” the order states.
The case was heard by the Chairperson Bench of the NGT on Tuesday. Earlier this year, the NGT had taken up the matter of the landfills after media reports of fires that broke out at the Ghazipur and Bhalswa dumpsites. It had then constituted a committee headed by S P Garg, former judge of the Delhi High Court, to suggest the course of action.
The order states that “there is serious violation of rights of citizens and failure of public trust doctrine to protect environment and public health by the concerned authorities, including the Delhi government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Steps taken so far do not meet the mandate of law and are not commensurate to the grim factual emergency situation constantly threatening safety and health of citizens and the environment with no accountability of officers entrusted the task…emergency measures are called for to remedy the situation with a new and sensitive approach…”
The order adds that the scenario presents a “grim picture and environmental emergency” in the national capital. A delay in restoration measures is detrimental to public interest and timelines are required to be “compressed”.
The Tribunal has noted that the dumpsites occupy “scarce and costly public land”, and that the price of the land would be around Rs. 10,000 crore at “conservative rate”. It points to the “urgency to retrieve the said public asset for beneficial public use”.
The NGT has also laid out the manner in which the land is to be utilised after the garbage is cleared. “To compensate the affected citizens of the area, the authorities are under obligation to develop dense forest in at least one-third of the land occupied by the dumpsite…”, the order states. One third can be utilised for setting up waste management facilities and the remaining land may be used for any other purpose. Authorities may consider setting up a “tourism and recreational centre” along with a water body.
On the expansion of waste-to-energy plants, the order states that the expansion of waste-to-energy plants can now proceed without environmental clearance. “Since one of the obstacles pointed out by the Chief Secretary is the delay in getting environmental clearance for expanding waste to energy plant, we direct that expansion of such project can proceed without such clearance but consistent with environment norms,” the order states.
In August, the Expert Appraisal Committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change did not recommend the expansion of the waste-to-energy plant at Okhla for environmental clearance stating that the proposal was “premature”.
While hearing the matter of compliance of the Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, with regard to different states, the NGT has recently imposed such environmental compensation amounts on other States as well. After an amount of Rs 1,200 crore to be paid by Maharashtra, the second highest compensation amount has been imposed on Delhi, followed by Rajasthan that is required to pay Rs. 555 crore.
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