National Green Tribunal imposed Rs 10 crore compensation on two Municipal Corporations: Rs 9 crore for Panchkula Municipal Corporation and Rs 1 crore Kalka Municipal Corporation for unscientific dumping of waste at Jhuriwala in Panchkula on Tuesday.
The counsel, Gaurav Kumar Bansal told the TDG that the NGT determines compensation at Rs 10 crores. Rs.9 crore has to be deposited by the Municipal Corporation of Panchkula and Rs 1 crore on Municipal Council of Kalka. This amount is being fixed in view of calculation of the Regional Officer, State PCB, Panchkula dated 17.08.2022 (Annexure-14 to the report) and also the rate applied in other such cases i.e. Rs 300 per metric tonne with remaining amount to cover other violations. The amount may be deposited within one month with the District Magistrate.
The Joint Committee, constituted by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in a case related to the unscientific dumping of waste at Jhuriwala in Panchkula, has stated the site is “not suitable for the establishment of municipal solid waste facility (MSWF)”.
The panel — comprising of Regional Officer, Panchkula, Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB); Divisional Forest Officer, Forest Department; and Deputy Commissioner, Panchkula — in its submission before the NGT said that the area of the site also receives natural water channels from nearby undulating watershed having rich forests of the wildlife sanctuary, and a natural drain passes through the site and civic waste is being dumped into it.
“It was observed the leachate coming out of the site is mixing with the stormwater of the natural drain and leading to the Ghaggar,” said the report.
After reviews and site visits, the panel of officers concluded the Municipal Corporation, Panchkula, and Municipal Council, Kalka, committed violations of environmental laws and caused significant loss to the environment.
The NGT had formed the Joint Committee in 2021. In its November 13 report, it was pointed out the Panchkula MC was found using the Jhuriwala site for unscientific dumping of waste without getting an extension of consent to establish (CTE) or without obtaining consent to operate (CTO) and authorisation from the HSPCB. The unscientific dumping of waste violated the Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules.
The laboratory testing of samples of water “revealed the concentration of various general parameters in the contaminated water in the natural drain passing through the site is much higher in comparison to water flowing in the drain upstream of the site, indicating the absence of leachate management”.