Serious failure of authorities in performing responsibility: NGT to Gurgaon civic bodies

The National Green Tribunal has slammed Gurgaon civic bodies over clearing of legacy waste at Bandhwari landfill site saying there has been a serious failure of the authorities in performing their responsibility. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said though an action plan has now been filed, whether the municipal corporations concerned and the Urban Development Department of Haryana execute it in mission mode and within reasonable time remains a moot question.

"It is established on record that so far there has been a serious failure of the authorities in performing their responsibility under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 to effectuate the right of the citizens to clean environment," the tribunal said.

"Since the tribunal has already monitored the failures of the authorities for sufficiently long time, the State must now take ownership of its basic responsibility in the interest of rule of law, protection of the environment and public health," the bench said.


The green panel also directed that compensation for damaging the environment may be deposited in a separate account and used for the restoration of the ecology.

Legacy wastes are the wastes that have been collected and kept for years at some barren land or a place dedicated for landfill (an area to dump solid waste).

Out of 33 lakh ton dumped waste, less than 1 lakh ton (which is hardly 2 per cent) has been remediated in the last more than one year, the tribunal had noted.

The green panel had earlier directed the Gurgaon Municipal Corporation to clear 25 lakh tonnes of legacy waste at Bandhwari landfill within six months and warned that failure to do so may result in coercive action, including non-payment of salaries.

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 was found dumped in the forest and quoted a local resident as saying that several vehicles dumped waste there every Sunday morning.