NGT refuses to modify order directing DCB to give Rs 20 cr for clearing landfill dumps

The National Green Tribunal has refused to modify its order by which it asked the Delhi Cantonment Board to contribute Rs 20 crore for clearing garbage dumps at Ghazipur, Bhalswa and Okhla landfill sites.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said there is no ground to modify the July 17 order, however, it added that the cantonment board is free to talk to the Chief Secretary for "any other appropriate arrangement".

The green panel said the amount of contribution required from DCB may not be proportionate to its garbage generation, but such direction was being issued due to practical considerations and suggestion of the Chief Secretary.

"Thus, even though liability of DCB may only be for Okhla dump site where garbage from Cantonment is dumped, it is appropriate that the DCB contributes such amount to the huge cost of removing garbage for better air quality of Delhi which is affected by other dump sites also," the bench said in a recent order.

It observed that improvement of air quality will be for the benefit of all residents of Delhi, including the residents of Delhi Cantonment area.

"We do not find any ground to modify the said order but DCB is free to interact with the Chief Secretary for any other appropriate arrangement," the bench said.

The tribunal was hearing a plea filed by DCB seeking modification of its order directing it to contribute Rs 10 crore, Rs 5 crore and Rs 5 crore respectively towards the cost of clearing garbage dumps at Ghazipur, Bhalswa and Okhla in Delhi to control pollution.

The NGT had earlier asked the AAP government and civic bodies to deposit Rs 250 crore in an escrow account, where funds are held in trust while two or more parties complete a transaction, to facilitate waste removal from landfill sites, and warned no officer will get salaries if they failed to abide by the directive.

It had said the work to clear waste at the landfill sites should start from October 1 after the monsoon season ends.

For the time being, it constituted a committee comprising Delhi chief secretary, secretary urban development, commission of three municipal corporations and New Delhi Municipal Council, member secretaries of Central Pollution Control Board and Delhi Pollution Control Committee to provide technical assistance to manage the sites.

Previously, it had directed the municipal corporations to submit an action-taken report to manage waste after a news report claimed that water had been contaminated in unauthorised habitations near Bhalswa, Ghazipur and Okhla landfill sites.

The tribunal had said that according to the provisions of the Solid Municipal Waste Rules, 2016, the primary responsibility to manage legacy waste and allied issues is of the municipal corporations.