by Jahangir Sofi
SRINAGAR: The National Green Tribunal (NGT), India’s top environmental court has ordered the constitution of a high-profile committee led by the Secretary of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to investigate the “correct factual situation” at the Acchan dumping site in Srinagar. It has asked the committee to assess the site and report back within eight weeks.
Acchan is a Srinagar locality near Eidgah that has been battling for years for better waste management in its neighbourhood. NGT’s decision follows a series of complaints about the unscientific disposal of waste, resulting in foul odours and growing health issues.
“To ascertain the correct factual situation, we constitute a Joint Committee comprising of the representative of the Member Secretary, CPCB, the representative of National Wetland Committee, MoEF and CC, Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar and Member Secretary, J&K PCC. The Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar will act as nodal agency,” reads the NGT order.
In an application filed at NGT court by RTI activist Raja Muzaffar Bhat has highlighted the unscientific garbage dumping issues, the application has cited violations of the Solid Waste Management Rules of 2016, the Jammu and Kashmir Action Plan for Municipal Solid Waste Management of 2018, the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules of 2016, and the Plastic Waste Management Rules of 2016.
“The grievance of the applicant is that dumping of waste at the landfill site is done in violation of Solid Waste Management Rule, 2016, Timeline set in Action Plan for Municipal Solid Waste Management Jammu and Kashmir, 2018 Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016, and Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016”, reads the application.
The NGT order further states that the Joint Committee will visit the site, ascertain the correct ground position and the extent of pollution caused by the illegal dumping at the landfill site in question, consequential health hazards created by it and also suggest remedial measures including setting up of waste processing facilities to zero down landfill and submit the report before the Tribunal within eight weeks e-mail at [email protected] preferably in the form of searchable PDF/OCR Support PDF and not in the form of Image PDF.
Bhat, while speaking to Kashmir Life, said that in his application, he has mentioned that Srinagar city generates around 450 metric tons of garbage daily, which is collected by the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) and deposited at the Achan landfill, raising concerns over the improper handling of municipal solid, biomedical, and plastic waste, violating several environmental norms.
“The applicant has raised the grievance against the illegal and unscientific dumping of waste at the Achan landfill in District Srinagar,” the NGT states.
As per the application filed at NGT, the Achan landfill, spans around 75 acres, and is the only garbage dumping ground for the city and its surrounding areas. Nearly 450 metric tons of waste are dumped daily at this site, which is located near human habitation.
Bhat said that with the fresh directions from NGT, notices to the concerned authorities have been issued and have further tasked the Joint Committee with visiting the site to assess the pollution and health hazards.
(The photo used in this story is for illustration only)
