The National Green Tribunal (NGT) bench of Pune on Thursday ordered the Maharashtra State Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to take action against the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and its contractors who have failed to adhere to the rules pertaining to composting of the solid waste management.
The five-member bench headed by chairperson Justice (retd.) Adarsh Kumar Goel has further issued a directive to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to direct all states to properly implement the scheme for composting solid waste.
The bench was hearing a plea filed by retired Major General S C N Jatar, who highlighted the violation of Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 in the operation of composting facilities by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).
"Parameters for compost laid down under the rules have not complied. The MPCB has failed to take action for such violations," Jatar argued while furnishing an "analysis report" to back his contention.
According to Jatar, compost is found to be containing heavy metals and other toxic materials.
The bench while referring to the report noted, "The Operator, PMC and MPCB have not ensured that there is no foul odour nuisance in and around the 24-hours composting plants. They are not adhering to the CPCB guidelines with the result that the citizens resist erection of these plants in residential areas."
Notably, the bench has been hearing this plea since January 2017 and has been dealing with the issue since then. The tribunal had last year noted that private contractor Ecomano
Solutions Pvt. Ltd. were closed in June 2018 and they were blacklisted by PMC.
Meanwhile, the CPCB stated that everything that the authorities have to do has been specified in the Rules and the facilities are to be set up by the local authorities in the light of the
guidelines on the subject.
"It remains undisputed that there has been a violation of statutory Rules in the composting process undertaken by the PMC through a service provider," the bench said, adding, "Though PMC is said to have terminated the contract and blacklisted the contractor, the MPCB needs to take appropriate action for violation of the Rules by way of initiating prosecution and recovery of compensation on ‘Polluter Pays’ principle."
The bench further added, "We also direct CPCB to have interaction with all the State PCBs and or PCCs on the subject of waste composting processes in the interest of 'rule of law' and protection of the environment and public health, including MSW Rules, 2016."
