The case of Dioxins emitting municipal waste incinerator
of Timarpur-Okhla Waste Management Co Pvt Ltd (TOWMCL) of M/s Jindal Urban
Infrastructure Limited (JUIL), a company of M/s Jindal Saw Group Limited owned by
Prithviraj Jindal was listed before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for hearing on November 12, 2014 for the 17th time. After these 17 hearings in the NGT and 28 hearings
in Delhi High Court, the Justice Swatanter Kumar, Chairperson
led bench after hearing all the counsels issued the following,
among other directions in the matter of NGT Application 22 of 2013
(THC)//SVRWA & Ors. V/s State of NCT of Delhi & Ors:
For Details: Gopal Krishna, ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA), Mb: 08227816731, 09818089660, E-mail:gopalkrishna1715@gmail.
(a) A
direction has been issued to CPCB to continuously carry out inspection of the
MSW plant for a period of seven days from today,
(b) A
direction has been issued to CPCB to give the Hon’ble Court a report in case
the online system of monitoring emissions of the plant operator was non
functional at any time,
(c) A
direction has been issued to Municipal authorities to implement segregation of
MSW at the point of origin i.e. at the level of houses, offices, hotels, etc
against charging of a fee for the facility,
(d) A
direction has been issued to the Respondent CPCB to report whether the
conditions specified in the environmental clearance granted to the MSW plant
are being adhered to by the plant operator,
(e) A
direction has been issued to the Respondent MOEF to file their policy on the
standards of emissions specified for MSW plants, with a further direction to clarify
their policy on the location of MSW plants.
Rakesh Kumar Matwa, the Advocate for Applicants made the following submissions to the Tribunal:
(a) That the MSW plant has a design default due to
which inspection of the same cannot be carried out during the night time.
(b) That the plant ceases to emit smoke after information
in that regard is provided to the Central Pollution Control Board (“CPCB”) officials
leading to a justifiable suspicion in the minds of the Applicants about the
existence of collusion between the MSW plant proponent and the regulatory
agency viz., CPCB.
(c) The attention of the Hon’ble court was also
drawn to certain photographs (annexed hereto), which show excess smoke emitted
by the MSW plant on 17/10/2014, 21/10/2014, 26/10/2014 and 12/11/2014. This was
in stark contrast to the submission of the counsel for CPCB that there was no
pollution.
(d) The counsel for the Applicants gave a
suggestion to the Hon’ble court that the situation could be improved if segregation
of MSW was ordered to be carried out at the point of source or origin i.e. at
the level of households, offices, hotels, etc.
It was pointed out to the
NGT that the segregation of MSW at source at the household level has already been introduced
in Mumbai.
The
Tribunal
was informed that installed capacity of the plant is in the excess of
2000 tons of MSW
consumption per day. The trucks loaded with MSW can be spotted on the
Delhi
Mathura Road carrying plastics and other waste which on incineration
release
toxic gases such as dioxins and furans. It was submitted before the
Tribunal that the large quantity of MSW brought to the plant daily is
not capable of segregation
by deployment of any number of persons at the MSW plant. It is,
therefore,
essential that appropriate directions be issued for segregation of
Municipal
waste at source or origin.
K
K Rohtagi, the lawyer for the residents who are the applicants raised
the issue of location of the plant in the residential area which creates
a compelling logic for closure of the plant.
For Details: Gopal Krishna, ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA), Mb: 08227816731, 09818089660, E-mail:gopalkrishna1715@gmail.
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