Holistic action plan needed on solid waste management, says NGT

The southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal has directed a joint committee to ascertain the quantity of waste dumped in the Porur lake and other areas and to find out whether any steps had been taken for disposal of legacy waste in the existing dumps in these areas. The Bench directed the Chief Secretary, the Additional Chief Secretaries for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Municipal Administration and Water Supply, and Principal Secretary for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj to personally review the implementation of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 across Tamil Nadu and to submit a proper action plan for implementing the rules in an effective manner. The Bench took note of various media reports on dumping of garbage in and around Vandalur Lake, various sites in Gerugambakkam, Ayyapanthangal, Kundrathur, Nazarethpet, Poonamallee High Road, Mogappair West, Sikkarayapuram and around the Porur Lake. The Bench said unless the government took a policy decision by preparing a holistic action plan based on the gaps found in the implementation of the rules, a permanent solution would not be possible. “Unless, the garbage collection and its disposal are carried out in a scientific manner, it will affect the environment as such and thereby, the Government will be failing in its responsibility of providing clean environment as part of Right to Life as enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution and also failing in its responsibility of protecting environment as contemplated under Article 48 A of the Constitution,” the Bench said.