Garbage Disposal: NGT Asks Gurugram, Faridabad Municipal Commissioners To Appear Physically

The National Green Tribunal has recently expressed its displeasure over garbage not being disposed of properly at the Bandhwari landfill site in Haryana and asked the commissioners of Gurugram and Faridabad municipal corporations to appear before it personally.

The next hearing in the matter will be held today.

In the case of Poonam Yadav versus Ecogreen Energy Private Limited and Others, the bench of Justice Sudhir Agarwal directed the municipal commissioners of Gurugram and Faridabad to appear personally before the NGT.

The bench stated pursuant to its order dated on November 7, further reports were filed on behalf of the municipal corporations of Gurugram and Faridabad.

The green panel stated, “However, we find from a perusal thereof that substantially, there is no improvement or change in the situation. The position of legacy waste is almost the same. Prima facie, we are satisfied that there is gross neglect on the part of the authorities concerned and they are consistently and continuously committing an offence by violating provisions of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. Under sections 16 and 17, where offences are committed by companies or government departments, the person responsible for the conduct of the business of the company in case of companies or the head of the department in case of a government department is deemed to be guilty of committing the offence under section 15.”

It added that, stern action is warranted and it should direct that the officials concerned be prosecuted for committing the offence under section 15 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

The order read, “However, before passing any order, as requested by Rahul Khurana, the advocate appearing for the state of Haryana and the said corporations, to seek further instructions in the matter, and we also intend to give an opportunity to the municipal commissioners of Gurugram and Faridabad, hence we direct that let this matter be put up tomorrow, that is, December 20, when the municipal commissioners of Gurugram and Faridabad shall remain personally present before the tribunal.”