NGT directs Haryana chief secretary to submit report on Bandhwari landfill site

The National Green Tribunal has directed the Haryana chief secretary to submit an action taken report and take punitive action against the officers for failing to stop leachate from the Bandhwari landfill site.

A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said this is a classic instance of "incapacity, incompetence and unwillingness" of the Gurgaon Municipal Corporation to perform its duty to handle solid waste in a scientific manner.

"The contractor to whom the work is assigned is not performing the job and is still continued. The result is damage to public health. The question is how local authorities are to be made accountable for protection of environment and the victims of damage to health," the bench said.

The tribunal passed the order after perusing a report of a joint committee which said that the waste at the landfill site was being burnt resulting in air pollution.

"Condition of the landfill site is pathetic, which is a source of environment degradation. Movement of trucks in the dusty roads leads to further pollution," it said.

The tribunal said, "The above sorry state of affairs requires emergency measures at the highest level of the state. The actions must include prompt steps to deal with the situation. If necessary, replacing the existing contractor with a suitable contractor who can perform.

"Punitive action be taken against the officers failing to handle the situation. This task must be undertaken under the directions of the chief secretary of the state who will be at liberty to take disciplinary action as well as prosecution of all concerned and furnish an action taken report in the matter.

"It will also be open to stop the salary of the officers who are not able to perform or to replace the officers with more competent officers who can deliver on the ground level," the bench said.

The matter is listed for next hearing on May 27.

The NGT had earlier directed the Gurgaon Municipal Corporation to submit a performance guarantee of Rs 25 lakh for stopping leachate from the Bandhwari landfill site.

The NGT had slammed the Haryana government and its civic bodies over the disposal of industrial waste and construction debris in the Aravalli forests along the Gurgaon-Faridabad road.

The green panel was hearing a plea filed by environmentalist Vivek Kamboj and Amit Chaudhary, alleging that the municipal corporations of Gurgaon and Faridabad were disposing industrial waste and construction debris in these forest areas.

Kamboj had referred to a media report which said construction debris were found dumped in the forest and quoted a local resident as saying that several vehicles dumped waste there every Sunday morning.