Mumbai: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) expressed a strong displeasure on the report submitted by the Chief Secretary to NGT on solid waste management, saying the entire report is “very cryptic, superficial” and does not bring to the fore ground realities. Directing the CS to ensure the presence of principal secretary (urban development and environment) on the next date, the NGT asked CS to submit a fresh action taken report on solid waste and sewage management.
“The report lacks data on urban local bodies. There appears to be no review of what has been filed and its consequences, particularly on defying the direction of the Supreme Court,” NGT chairman Justice Prakash Shrivastava said in an eight-page order. The tribunal took up the issue of compliance following the SC order of Sep 2, 2014, prescribing stringent guidelines for management of solid waste in cities where the population is more than one lakh. The tribunal found that against the waste generation of 23,614 TPD by 411 municipal corporations, only 22,510 TPD is processed.
In cities like Mumbai and Pune, waste processing facilities, like waste to energy and biogas, are either at the stage of acquisition of land or under construction.
There is no disclosure on waste existing in each urban local body. As per the disclosures, out of 273 sites, 193 sites are remediated, and 80 sites are targeted for remediation. The quantity for 80 sites has not been mentioned in the reply. “We find an absolute lack of seriousness in the remediation of huge sites at Deonar and Mulund in Greater Mumbai. It has been stated that the Deonar site will be remediated in the next five years, but no timeline is disclosed for Mulund,” the bench observed.