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Judgment
Grievance in this application is against the illegal dumping of garbage and waste in the Panchayat land in Village Nawada Fatehpur, Tehsil Manesar, District Gurugram.
According to the applicant, unscientific dumping of garbage is affecting the ground water which is the source of drinking water. The applicant sent a representation on the subject on 03.01.2019 and contacted the Sarpanch but no action has been taken. The applicant has relied upon photographs in support of his averments.
The matter has been considered earlier and considering the status reports filed, further directions issued. Operative part of the last order dated 03.12.2021 is reproduced below:-
“4. In pursuance of above, report has been filed by Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon and State PCB on 15.09.2021 to the effect that there is a plan to take remedial action in future. Further, letter addressed to the advocate for the State has been filed on 02.12.2021 mentioning the future plan.
In view of the fact that the past violations are undisputed, offence under the law of the land inter alia under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 for violation of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 is complete for which no remedial action is shown to have been taken nor compensation for the past violations shown to have been recovered on polluter pays principle in the manner laid down vide order dated 28.02.2020 in O.A No. 606/2018, In re: Compliance of Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 and other environmental issues. This responsibility of compliance is of the Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon and the Chief Secretary, Haryana. Further, it appears from the report that the dumped waste is being shifted from one place to the other instead of being remediated and scientifically disposed as per law. 1.82 MT waste is reported to be lying at the site without remediation.
Vide order of this Tribunal dated 30.11.2021 in O.A No. 606/2018 (Supra), it has been observed:-
“18. ………….. All the legacy waste dump sites in the country need to be remediated to reduce methane gas, foul smell and leachate and also to release valuable land occupied by such sites which can be used for waste management/plantation or raising funds. Waste collected must be scientifically processed and disposed at the earliest in the interest of hygiene and public health. It needs to be ensured that instead of remediating the legacy waste sites, the garbage is not shifted to new sites which is not a solution to the problem. It only results in shifting the problem from one place to the other without any advancement of environment protection. What is necessary is that the garbage must be finally disposed of and land reclaimed. The authorities must move towards zero garbage at the end of the day by ensuring that instead of garbage being collected and dumped, it is taken to destination where it is finally processed scientifically and appropriately, except for reused/recycling of such residues as is possible…………”
Let further remedial action for continued failure so far be taken as per law and compliance report filed before the next date by e-mail at [email protected] preferably in the form of searchable PDF/ OCR Support PDF and not in the form of Image PDF.”
In the light of above, a report has been filed on 07.08.2022 by the Deputy Commissioner, Gurugram and the State PCB as follows:-
“7. That the Municipal Corporation, Manesar submitted its response vide letter dated 4.8.2022. The relevant portion of the said response is reproduced below:-
"4.Processing of legacy waste transported to site at Bawal (Rewari) is being done as per SWM Rules 2016. The Bawal site is under jurisdiction of Municipal Council, Rewari, therefore, report was asked from Executive Officer, Rewari regarding status of Bio-remediation. The details of waste transported and bio-remediated is as follows:-
Total Legacy waste Transported
Processed Legacy Waste*
Remaining Legacy waste at Rewari
1,50,000
Tonnes (Approx.)
1,00,000 Tonnes (Approx.) till 4th August 2022 (Including 6000 MT lifted from village Nawada).
50,000 Tonnes (Approx.) till 4th August 2022
*As per information received from MC Rewari vide letter Memo No. EE/MCR/2022/746 dated 04.08.2022.
Two trommel machines/One Duramax Thapar Machine having maximum combined capacity of disposal of 2500 Ton per day actual capacity as per working, are in operation for 24x7 at Bawal Site, Rewari to dispose of the legacy waste belonging to MCM. Best efforts are being made to bio-remediate the legacy waste transported by the MC, Manesar at the earliest.
That in continuation of Para No.6 of the Report dated 02.12.2021, it is submitted that Tender (Tender Id: 2021 HRY 192024 1 & Tender Ref No. MCM/EE-SBM/2021/SPL-I) for Door-to-Door collection, transportation, processing as well as disposal of solid waste has been finalized and work has already been commenced.
MCM has established 1 decentralized waste processing facility at Naurangpur consisting of one MRF center for dry waste processing with a design capacity of 20 TPD. The facility also encompasses a wet waste processing center consisting of 33 compost pits with a total design capacity of 30-35 TPD. This waste processing facility is running the processing of waste (both dry and wet) coming from multiple villages in an effective manner.
Also, one more decentralized waste processing facility (Dry + Wet) is being operated in MC Manesar catering to 4 villages. The facility incorporates an MRF center with a design capacity of 4 TPD and a wet waste processing center with a design capacity of 4 TPD (2 Organic Waste Composter, each of 2 TPD capacity).
Furthermore, MCM has also identified two other sites for establishment of decentralized processing facilities comprising of both MRFs and wet waste processing centers with 50 TPD capacity each. These sites are at Manesar and Badha Villages and work on these plants has also been commenced and is likely to be completed within 20 days.
Establishment of one other decentralized processing plant of 50 TPD at Bhangrola village site is also under consideration.
It is to bring into your kind notice that Municipal Corporation, Manesar was recently constituted vide a gazette Notification No. S.0/58/H.A16/1994/S.3/2020 dated 24. 12.2020. Thereafter, steps were taken to take over records from Gram Panchayat (s) followed by field survey of all garbage vulnerable points. The transition has happened directly from level of a Gram Panchayat to a corporation. This period also experienced the Second Wave of Covid-19.
Since formation, MC Manesar is working arduously towards establishing an integrated waste management system in compliance to SWM 2016 Rules. In view of expeditious and sincere steps taken by MC Manesar as detailed above, it should not be made liable to pay any penalty/compensation. It is not liable for past violation(s), rather it has taken the remedial steps soon after its office being functional in the area."
A copy of letter dated 4.8.2022 is attached herewith as ANNEXURE R/2.
The Members of the Joint Committee comprising Additional Deputy Commissioner, Gurugram and Regional Officer, HSPCB Gurugram South, visited the Site of Pond at Gram Panchayat land, in the revenue estate of Village Nawada Fatehpur and found the site clean from the garbage, surrounded by boundary walls and Pond has been developed/restored.
Other waste venerable places in Village Nawada were also visited and were found free from garbage.
That so far as the issue of environmental compensation for past violations, the Municipal Corporation of Manesar has explained that despite its office being functional in 2021 and second Wave of Covid-19 Pandemic, the sincere efforts made to clear the garbage dumping site. It has also been informed on behalf of Municipal Corporation that it has catered the waste of 30 Villages for transportation and processing as mentioned in its letter dated 4.8.2022. In such circumstances, it has been decided to hear the concerned Officers incharge of the functions of Gram Panchayat, before arriving to any conclusion on this aspect. Besides, relevant records need to be examined to identify such Officers and to issue notices to them for hearing.”
In view of above, let further action be taken to remediate the left over legacy waste of 50000 MT properly. The waste processing facilities already or that may be setup may be fully utilized. Surrounding villages may be properly connected to such facilities.
The Applications are disposed of.