New Delhi, Nov 29 (PTI) The National Green Tribunal on Friday imposed Rs 20 lakh fine on the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for illegally dumping solid waste in a dhalao near a school for the visually impaired in west Delhi’s Raghubir Nagar.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) observed that authorities cannot be allowed to take advantage of the student’s disability and infringe on their right to clean environment.
The green body was hearing the issue of the students of Akhil Bhartiya Netrahin Sangh school facing challenges and health risks because of the overflowing dhalao (garbage receptacle point) and several open sewage holes near the school.
A bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava noted that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had filed a report that reflected the “pathetic condition” of the dhalao and the “danger” posed by “several open sewage holes” and potholes.
“The CPCB report also reflects non-compliance with the provisions of solid waste management and liquid waste management by the MCD,” said the bench also comprising judicial members Justices Sudhir Agarwal and Arun Kumar Tyagi along with expert member Afroz Ahmad.
The tribunal said, according to the MCD’s report, steps had been taken to close the dhalao that existed for the last three decades.
“But undisputedly, the dhalao is still existing where the garbage is dumped. Nothing material has been disclosed in the report of the MCD to contradict the findings recorded by CPCB and Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC),” it said.
The DPCC had earlier informed the tribunal that it had carried out an inspection where garbage, including bio-medical waste and animal remains, was found spilling over the road and that it had issued a letter to the civic body to remediate the situation.
The tribunal underlined that in two other previous verdicts, it had disapproved of the system of dhalaos in the national capital and ordered their closure.
The tribunal said that the garbage near the school caused a foul stench and attracted flies and stagnating water was found near the school gate.
It said no measures were taken for the collection and processing of waste generated from nearby butcher shops and the meat market.
“The students have faced not only inconveniences and restrictions in daily activities but have also suffered health hazards due to the illegal dumping of garbage in the dhalao and consequential deterioration in the environmental quality,” the tribunal said.
It said as the students of the school, founded in 1971, were suffering for several years because of “negligence, lapse and inaction” by the civic body, they needed to be compensated.
The tribunal underscored that visually impaired students also enjoyed the fundamental right to live in pollution-free atmosphere.
“Taking advantage of their disability, no authority is entitled to infringe that right and dump the garbage near their educational institution,” it said.
“Taking a pragmatic view, we deem it proper to impose a lumpsum minimum environmental compensation which on facts of the case, we quantify as Rs 20 lakh, which will be payable by the MCD to the school within one month from today,” the tribunal added.
It said that the school management had to utilise the amount to create a better environmental atmosphere and for extending proper health facilities to the students, who had been “victims of pollution and environmental hazards”.
The tribunal directed the civic body to immediately close the dhalao and ensure no sewage holes were kept open. PTI MNR AS AS
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