National Green Tribunal Directs Delhi Chief Secretary To Submit Quarterly Report On Solid Waste Management

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Delhi chief secretary to personally monitor the progress in the implementation of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 in the national capital and asked him to submit a quarterly report. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel ordered that at least three wards, zones, circles in each municipal corporation may be notified within two weeks as model initially, which will be made fully compliant within the next six months.

The bench, also comprising Justices S P Wangdi and K Ramakrishnan, said

The remaining wards/zones/circles may be made fully compliant in respect of environmental norms within one year. A quarterly report be furnished by the chief secretary, every three months. First such report shall be furnished by June 30.

The tribunal directed the chief secretary to personally monitor the progress, at least once in a month, with all the district magistrates and it said that the officers concerned may be imparted requisite training. The bench said,

The district magistrates may monitor the status of compliance of environmental norms, at least once in two weeks. Performance audit of functioning of all regulatory bodies may be conducted and remedial measures be taken, within six months.

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It also asked the chief secretary to remain present in person before the tribunal with the status of compliance in respect of various issues on September 23. The green panel also made it clear that the chief secretary may not delegate the above function and the requirement of appearance before this tribunal to anyone else.

The tribunal had earlier expressed concern over the implementation of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 in the national capital, saying the situation was highly unsatisfactory. The tribunal had earlier slammed authorities for failing to act on reducing solid waste and asked chief secretaries of all states and Union territories to appear before it with status reports of their actions and immediate future plans. It had noted that India generates over 1,50,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day, with Mumbai being the world’s fifth most waste generating city.

The green panel had asked all states to display on their websites of their pollution control boards the progress made in complying with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 and Bio-Medical Waste management Rules, 2016. It had also directed states and UTs (Union Territories) to constitute in every district a special task force having three members — one each nominated by the district magistrate, the superintendent of police, and the regional officer of the state pollution control.

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NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.