Highlights
- Waste burning on lands will be prohibited in Telangana
- Defaulters will have to pay fines ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs. 25,000
- State Government has also recommended a complete ban chlorinated plastic
Hyderabad: The Telangana government has prohibited open burning of waste on land with immediate effect and has also imposed a fine for violation of the ban. A Government Order (GO) to the effect in compliance with a National Green Tribunal (NGT) judgement in December last year was issued on July 10. The order states that a fine of Rs 5,000 has been imposed for simple burning and Rs 25,000 for bulk waste burning.
“There shall be a complete prohibition on open burning of waste on lands, including at landfill sites. The defaulters, violators will include project proponent, concessionaire, urban local bodies, any person or body. Anyone who will be responsible for such burning, environmental compensation shall be levied of Rs 5,000 for simple burning and Rs 25,000 for bulk waste burning,” states the official order.
The order also mentions that the Telangana State Pollution Control Board is the competent authority for levying environmental compensation for open waste burning done by urban local bodies/gram panchayats.
The ‘environmental compensation’ or money collected through penalties shall be utilised for creating awareness among general public on environmental issues and open burning of waste.
According to the order, the local authorities and village panchayats shall establish waste to energy processes including Refused Derived Fuel (RDF) for the combustible fraction of waste or supply it as feedstock to solid waste based power plants, thermal power plants and cement plants.
The order also said the power generation plant and cement plants in Telangana shall buy and use RDF as fuel in their respective plants, wherever RDF plant is located within 100 km radius.
Meanwhile, the state government has also proposed a complete ban on usage of short life PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) and chlorinated plastics. For now, the draft notification has been issued and it will be taken into consideration subsequently after suggestions or complaints are received from the public.
