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A joint committee comprising members of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) was directed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to submit a complete report on some of the power plants operating in Uttar Pradesh. These include power plants in Barekhera village in Pilibhit, Kundarki village in Gonda, Etai Maida village in Balrampur and Maqsoodpur village in Shahjahanpur.
The joint committee had filed a report January 16, 2023 which, the court noted, was only in respect to the power plant run at Lakhimpur by Bajaj Hindustan Ltd and Bajaj Energy Ltd.
The report also showed several serious violations on the part of the project proponents at the unit inspected by it but no action was taken against the proponent either for assessment of environmental compensation or by initiating criminal proceedings.
The complete report on all the units will be filed within three weeks as ordered by NGT, UPPCB told the court.
On January 20, NGT had also granted this time to place on record action taken against the violators and also reason for not taking any action till date, if so.
Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Dipankar Datta of the Supreme Court directed the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal to file status reports on the winter plan and temporary measures which have been initiated for the urban homeless as well as for the construction of temporary shelters rescue teams.
The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board has removed around 1,500 tonnes of legacy waste dumped on the banks of Banganga rivulet in Jammu & Kashmir and the site is totally clean. This was stated in the compliance report filed by the Union territory’s housing and urban development department January 23, 2023.
Waste processing facilities are being designed to cater to the collection and transportation of the 38 tonnes of waste generated per day (19 tonnes dry waste and 19 tonnes wet waste per day) and its scientific disposal at Tan Talab, Katra. The collection and transportation of the waste is being done by the Katra Municipal Committee through five vehicles.
Katra Municipal Committee is segregating and disposing of municipal waste in a scientific manner, the report mentioned. It has imposed a ban on burning of the solid waste including polythene and protection of the environment.
At present, the Municipal Committee Katra has made a phase-wise waste processing and management plan for Katra. Under the ongoing first phase, the materials recovery facility at Tan Talab site is under construction to handle around 5-8 tonnes of dry waste per day and will be made operational by March 31, 2023.
The court was also informed that the Municipal Committee tried to dump the fresh waste of Udhampur at the site in Mand village but could not do so due to law and order issues. The said site is allotted and planned for development of a scientific landfill for only reject waste (20 per cent of total waste) from six urban local bodies.
At present, fresh waste is being dumped at an earmarked location in Tan Talab site in Katra due to unavailability of other dumping sites in the vicinity. The land at Tan Talab is sufficient for development of an integrated solid waste management facility of 40 tonnes per day. It is targeted to be covered in phase 2 of the waste management plan of the Municipal Committee, Katra.