Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal
The National Green Tribunal (NGT), November 1, 2023, directed the chief secretary, Uttar Pradesh (UP) to file a report on the issue of unscientific handling of solid waste in Jagjeevanpur village, Ghaziabad district, UP.
The tribunal had on April 26 directed the chief secretary to file a report on the issue, but none had been filed, it said. The NGT asked the Chief Secretary to look into remedial measures as well as the status of legacy waste at the site in question and the adequacy of waste processing facilities.
A report by the Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam (GNN) submitted on October 5 has given no satisfactory explanation for the management of current daily waste, which is generated within its limits, the tribunal added. Further, no details have been provided on the status of other sites where there is legacy waste.
The NGT ordered Meerut's district magistrate to submit a report within two weeks on the steps taken to compensate family members of victims of a blast at a soap factory in the city. The report should also contain the real cause of the blast, said the NGT on November 1, 2023.
The next hearing of the case is on January 16, 2024.
The original application was registered in suo motu exercise of powers on the basis of the news item titled Four dead, five injured after blast in soap factory in Meerut published in newspaper Hindustan Times. An explosion in a soap factory at Lohia Nagar locality in the city was reported in the article, stating four people died and five others were injured.
Lohia Nagar is a residential area developed by the Meerut Development Authority, but industrial activities are taking place in the area and the units are operating without the necessary permissions from the competent authorities, the district magistrate told the NGT in a report. It was possible that the unit was using hazardous chemicals, it added.
The NGT, November 1, 2023 directed the principal secretary for urban development, Himachal Pradesh and the chief executive of the municipal council, Hamirpur to inform the tribunal on the next date of hearing on the steps taken to dispose of municipal waste within the municipal council.
The divisional forest officer has been approached for diversion of 0.65 hectares of forest land in favour of the council for the construction of a solid waste management plant at Hamirpur, stated an action-taken report by the principal secretary on October 30, 2023. Hoeever, it needs to be examined whether the forest land can be transferred for such a purpose.
Suntan Life Company is carrying out the processing of legacy waste, the report said. However, due to the pending nature of some litigation, the work has stalled.
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