New Delhi: Taking note of reckless dumping of municipal waste in the temple town of Vrindavan, National Green Tribunal today slammed the civic authorities and directed removal of garbage within two weeks. “How are you dumping like this? There has to be a proper mechanism in place. We direct the Vrindavan Nagar Nigam to dispose of the municipal solid waste in accordance with Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 by providing proper pits and covering the waste with soil.
“Let this be done in two weeks,” a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said. The NGT directed the municipal body to file an affidavit regarding compliance by November 3, the next date of hearing. The directions came while hearing of a plea by a seer Madhumangal Shukla, who had approached NGT against “illegal” and “unregulated” disposal of solid waste in the city.
Shukla, through his advocate Rahul Choudhary, submitted photographs showing that civic authorities were disposing the solid waste near landfill site near Bhatraol temple in the nearby pits in violation of Municipal Solid Waste Rules. He told the NGT that Nagar Nigam’s claim that the entire waste that was dumped has been removed, was “erroneous” and “blatantly misleading.”
During the hearing, the counsel for Vrindavan Nagar Nigam told the bench that the entire waste which was dumped at the site shown in the photographs had been removed and dumped at the earmarked site.
The NGT had earlier restrained the Vrindavan municipal corporation from burning domestic waste in the open and issued notices to the Environment Ministry, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and others while seeking their reply. Shukla said that entire environment of Vrindavan was suffering due to the lack of implementation of Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 as garbage was being disposed of carelessly in drains and on the banks of river Yamuna, leading to clogging and stagnation.
The plea had claimed that the only landfill site in the city has been sold to Mathura Mandi Samiti for setting up of a wholesale market resulting in reckless accumulation of garbage on streets.
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