Allowed

Ramesh Mahendru vs

NGT9 Aug 2024Original Application No. 479/2023

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

The National Green Tribunal considered an application regarding illegal dumping of garbage. The Tribunal found the Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar in flagrant non-compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 due to insufficient legacy waste processing and low waste-to-energy capacity. It computed environmental compensation based on the polluter-pays principle.

What did the court decide?

Imposition of Rs. 2,70,00,000 as environmental compensation and directions to initiate penalty proceedings under Section 15 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

Ramesh Mahendru vs — Environment and Pollution | NGT (2024)

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Item No. 10

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Court No. 2

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BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL PRINCIPAL BENCH, NEW DELHI

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Original Application No. 479/2023

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Ramesh Mahendru Applicant Versus State of Punjab Respondent

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Date of hearing: 09.08.2024

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CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SUDHIR AGARWAL, JUDICIAL MEMBER HON’BLE DR. AFROZ AHMAD, EXPERT MEMBER

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Applicant(s)	None
Respondent(s)	Mr. Prakhyat Gargaysa Proxy Cou Nandrajog, AAG for State of Punjab Mr. Prashant Manchanda and Advocates for Respondent No.	nsel for Mr. Divyam Ms. Nancy Shah, 3with Mr. Gautam
	Jain, Commissioner, MC Jalandhar Mr. Naginder Benipal Advocate Gurjinder Singh Majithia, Mem (through VC)	(through VC) for PPCB with Mr. ber Secretary, PPCB

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ORDER

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The Original Application was registered in exercise of suo-moto jurisdiction in view of law laid down by Supreme Court in Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai vs. Ankita Sinha, (2022) 13SCC 401, on a letter petition dated 17.05.2023, received from Ramesh Mahendru, President, Alfa Mahendru Foundation.

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The complainant had said that huge garbage has been dumped on the PAP Flyover near Chowgitti Bypass Jalandhar city which is emitting foul smell causing pollution and damaging environment and also creating health hazard situation to the residents.

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Tribunal took cognizance of the matter on 04.08.2023 and found it appropriate to obtain a Factual Report by constituting a Joint Committee comprising Central Pollution Control Board (hereinafter referred to as ‘ CPCB ’), Punjab State Pollution Control Board (hereinafter referred to as ‘ PSPCB ’) and District Magistrate, Jalandhar.

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Joint Committee submitted its Report dated 02.11.2023 stating that site was visited on 15.10.2023. Its observations in the Report read as under:

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a) The dump site falls within the MC limits and is established in an area of about 16.2 acres. The officials of Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar informed that the site is in use for the last about 30 years.

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b) The Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar has provided 30 dump trucks and 43 trollies to carry the solid waste to the dump site.

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c) At the time of visit about 3 trollies and 03 dump trucks reached the site but none of them was covered.

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d) None of the vehicles was compartmentalized. No segregation of waste is being done before sending it to the dump site and no segregation is done at the dump site.

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e) No treatment of fresh waste or legacy waste is being carried out. The unsegregated waste received is dumped as such at the site.

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f) No weigh bridge has been provided at the dump site to ascertain the waste being received at site.

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g) The Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar officials informed that as pera survey carried out in 2019, 08 lacs MT solid waste was present at the dump site and 400-500 MT waste was

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being received everyday at that time. Considering increase in daily waste generation and accumulation of waste since 2019, the total legacy waste lying at the dump site could be to the tune of 15 lacs MT.

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h) No boundary wall or fencing has been provided around the dumpsite and as such waste was found spread outside the dump site on to the road leading to the site.

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i) The Kala Sanghian drain passes at around 400 mtr away from the dump site. A lot of waste was found dumped along the bank of Kala Sanghian drain adding to the pollution in the drain.

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j) No plantation has been provided around the dump site.

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k) No buffer zone has been left by MC Jalandhar around the dumpsite.

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l) The piezometers earlier provided for ground water monitoring are buried under the waste and as such sampling of ground water cannot be done. Further, the ground water sampling from piezometers provided near entrance and inside the dump site was earlier carried out by the Board in October 2020 and samples were got analysed from PBTI Lab.

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m) As per analysis report, various parameters were found beyond the prescribed limits as tabulated below:

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*Sr.* *No.*	*Parameters*	*Piezometer* *inside site*	*Piezometer* at *entrance*	*Maximum* *permissible* *limits as per* *SWM* *Rules* *2016*
1.	pH	2.13	6.38	6.5-8.30
2.	TDS	3248	5407	500
3.	Chloride	1499	1750	250
4.	Copper	0.02	0.14	0.05
5.	Iron	0.43	2.6	0.3
6.	Nitrate	7.6	260	45
7.	Phenolic compound	BDL	0.02	0.001
8.	Sulphate	875	1750	200
9.	Hardness	10	190	300
10.	Zinc	0.14	0.10	5
11.	Lead	0.16	0.05	0.05
12.	Chromium	BDL	0.21	0.05
13.	Nickel	BDL	0.05	-

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n) No arrangement of leachate treatment has been provided and the leachate is partially discharged into sewer and is partially stagnated at site.

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o) No onsite or offsite emergency plan has been prepared.

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p) No permanent arrangement for dousing of fires has been provided.

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q) There are about 40-50 houses established right next to the dump site which are prone to damage in case of large-scale fires.

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r) No arrangement is provided for detection of methane gas formation at site.

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s) No CCTV Cameras have been provided at the site.

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t) The photographs of the dump site as well as other parts of the city are attached herewith as Annexure-A2.”

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Joint Committee issued some directions to Deputy Commissioner, Jalandhar in para 5.0 of the Report, which read as under:

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“5.0 Directions issued by the Deputy Commissioner, Jalandhar

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After the performance of visits and consideration of the matter, the Deputy Commissioner, Jalandhar directed the officials of Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar as under :

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i) Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar to remove the entire solid waste from chowk site and carry out remediation using lime etc.

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ii) Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar to ensure that no waste is dumped at Chowk site in future and to appoint officials to carry out regular monitoring at site.

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iii) Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar to provide CCTV Cameras at site to identify violators dumping waste at the site and to take punitive action which may include challenging and imposition of fine and initiation of action as per Municipal laws.

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iv) Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar to take up matter with National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) for fencing/plantation of the site and to explore possibility of development of public parks at the site.

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v) Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar to take all necessary measures for compliance of Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 including remediation of legacy waste and adoption of best practices for Solid Waste Management.”

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Action taken by Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar as informed to Joint Committee is stated in para 6 of Joint Committee Report which reads as under:

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“6.0 Action taken by Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar for removal of garbage at Choughiti byepass, Jalandhar and overall garbage of Jalandhar City .

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The Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar has taken action for removal of garbage at Choughiti byepass, Jalandhar and overall garbage of jalandhar Cit y.

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6.1 Removal of garbage at Choughiti byepass, Jalandhar

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The Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar has taken action for removal of garbage at Choughiti byepass, Jalandhar

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i) Nearly 1500 Ton Garbage has been removed.

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ii) Dedicated Machinery to remove any garbage that is being dumped at the site.

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iii) Dedicated team comprising 1 police Personnel, 1 Sanitary Inspector and 1 Sanitary Supervisor has been formed to monitor the site 24*7 in three shifts daily.

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iv) Board installed at the site displaying “Dumping of any kind of waste is criminal offence. Those who found doing so will be prosecuted accordingly.

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v) Nearly 50 butcher shops in Rama mandi who were throwing their waste at Choughiti have been restricted and alternate arrangements as per Solid Waste management Rules 2016 are being explored.

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vi) The informal ragpickers who are throwing garbage at the site have been identified and are being facilitated to transport the waste to MRF/composting unit.

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6.2 Action taken by Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar for overall garbage of Jalandhar city:

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Following actions have been taken by Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar for overall removal of garbage of Jalandhar city:

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a) Approx. 43.00 Cr has been transferred from Jalandhar smart city to MCJ for solid waste management.

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b) D.P.R of worth Rs 23.00 Cr for transportation machinery has been approved and the procurement is under tender process.

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c) DPR for Machinery for door-to-door collection, worth Rs 20.00 Cr is being prepared.

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d) With respect to secondary collection points (SCP's), the timing of lifting has been fixed by 11.00 am.

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e) A survey of the requirements regarding the repair of four walls, floor and roof has been done.

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f) Important SCPs like Choughiti and Garbage Vulnerable Points (GVP) will be monitored through CCTV cameras.

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g) Additional machinery of 40 tractor trolleys and 6 tippers have been hired to clear SCP's and GVP's.

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h) Proper Monitoring by the team of police, sanitary inspectors and supervisors at important places such as Choughiti.

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i) Approximately 97 challans have been issued for littering and throwing garbage in the public areas.

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j) Micro-Targeting:

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a) Identification of Bulk Waste Generator (BWG's), issuing them notices and verification process has been started. 18 BWG's found not complying with Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 have been challaned.

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b) Coordinating with BWG's to either process their waste on their own or through the agencies empaneled by Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar.

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c) Shops and commercial establishments are being monitored. Those who are throwing their waste in public places are being challaned. For example, nearly 50 butcher shops in Rama Mandi who were throwing their waste at Choughiti have been restrained and alternate arrangements as per SWM Rules 2016 are being explored.

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Report further gives position of dump site as under:

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“8.0 Factual position of the dump site

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The statement of Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar with regard to waste generation, waste processed and legacy waste existing and remediated at the site is summarized and reproduced herein below:

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a) The solid waste dump site of Jalandhar city is located at Wariana, which is about 30 years old and falls within the limits of Municipal Corporation Jalandhar.

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b) The total area of dump site is about 16.25 acres, in which originally about 8.00 lakh MT of legacy waste as the survey got conducted by Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar in the year 2021 was there in form of heaps of 30 meters height.

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c) The work of bio-remediation of legacy waste at the dump site has not been awarded.”

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Report also mentions action taken by PSPCB as under:

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“9.0 Action taken by the Punjab Pollution Control Board against Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar for noncompliance of SWM Rules 2016

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During the meetings of the Joint Committee, the officers of the Punjab Pollution Control Board who is also a member of the Joint Committee apprised the members that the Hon'ble National Green Tribunal in the matter of O.A No. 606 of 2018, in re: compliance of Compliance of Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 vide order dated 10.1.2020, had directed that continued failure of compliance of Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 after 31.3.2020 will result in liability of every Local Body to pay compensation at the rate of Rs.10.0 lakh per month per Local Body for population of

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above 10.0 lakhs, Rs. 5.0 lakh per month per Local Body for population between 5.0 Lakhs and 10.0 Lakhs and Rs. 1.0 Lakh per month per other Local Body from 1.4.2020 till compliance is made.

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Considering the total population of Jalandhar City @8,62,886 as per census of 2011, environmental compensation @ 5.0 lacs per month was calculated towards non-compliance of Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. Accordingly, in compliance to the orders dated 10.1.2020 of the Hon'ble NGT passed in O.A No. 606 of 2018, environmental compensation amounting to Rs.2.0 Crore was imposed upon Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar by the Punjab Pollution Control Board as Calculated for noncompliance of Sr. no. 1 to 10 of Rules 22 of SWM Rules 2016 & Sr.No. 11 to Rule 22 with effect from 01.07.2020 till 28.02.2022 through the Department of Local Government, Punjab. The Department of Local Government through Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company (PMIDC) had deposited the environmental compensation amounting to Rs. 90.0 lacs on 31.12.2022 with the office of the Punjab Pollution Control Board and the balance amount of Environmental Compensation of Rs.1.10 Crore is yet to be deposited by the Department of Local Government, Punjab .

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9. Ultimately, Joint Committee made its recommendations as under :

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“10.0 Recommendations of the Joint Committee:

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Measures to be taken by Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar

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Considering the prevalence of the conditions existing at the dump site and after taking into account all the relevant facts and circumstances of the caseincluding the suggestions made by the applicant Sh. Ramesh Mehendru, the Joint Committee hereby recommends the following measures to be taken by MunicipalCorporation, Jalandhar in a time bound manner for the prevention of fires at thedump site and the management of solid waste:

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A. Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar shall conduct comprehensive risk assessment studies and accordingly prepare detailed On-site Emergency Plan for its dump site addressing the following issues:

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i) To cover potential risks / emergencies due to fire, obnoxious/flammable emissions, odour, vector borne

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diseases rodents, bird nuisance, seasonal affects i.e. summer / winter / monsoon (rainy season) and all other potential risks at the dumpsites.

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ii) To address the worst possible case scenarios preferably using appropriate risk assessment software's covering any or all of the potential emergency issues / scenarios cited above.

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iii) To cover likely affected geographical area including population, flora& fauna in and around the dumpsites.

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iv) To contain detailed remedial measures both hardware and soft ware based for mitigating various emergency situations, which should finally be available with respective control rooms and on-site emergency notice boards.

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B) Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar shall provide a permanent water hydrantsystem, which can be used to douse the accidental fire at any time in the year.

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C) Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar shall implement following interim measures till the time onsite / off-site emergency plans are prepared:

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i) Fresh waste not to be disposed at the dump site where bioremediation is being undertaken.

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ii) Methane gas detectors (on the down side) to be installed at the site so that area with high methane concentration can be identified and preventive actions be undertaken.

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iii) Arrangement of fire extinguishers to be made especially in the summer seasons.

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D) Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar shall install CCTV cameras at its dumpsite, provide weigh bridge for proper measurement of waste received at the dump site.

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E) Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar shall install a permanent gate with it one security personnel at the main entrance to avoid any unauthorized access to the solid waste site.

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F) Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar shall provide fencing all around the dump site to avoid littering of any waste in any water body.

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G) Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar shall develop the plantation area / green belt around the dump site,

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H) Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar shall provide piezometers on four different locations in order to check the contamination of ground water.

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I) The local administration shall notify the buffer zone to restrict/prohibit the urban growth (residential and commercial) near such dump site.”

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The Joint Committee Report was considered by Tribunal on 20.11.2023 and thereafter it impleaded following as respondents:

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I. State of Punjab through Chief Secretary

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II. District Magistrate, Jalandhar

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III. Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar and

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IV. Punjab State Pollution Control Board through its Member Secretary.

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Notices were issued to above respondents giving them opportunity to file their responses.

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Respondent 1 State of Punjab through Chief Secretary, has filed its short reply dated 18.01.2024stating that it has issued necessary directions to Commissioner, Municipal Corporation vide memo dated 12.01.2024 to take steps for immediate compliance of provisions of Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 (hereinafter referred to as ‘SWM Rules, 2016 ’) as also directions of Tribunal.

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Further, vide memo endorsement dated 12.01.2024, Principal Secretary, Urban Development has been directed to issue directions to all

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Urban Bodies of State of Punjab to comply with the Provisions of SWM Rules, 2016. Chairman, PSPCB has also been directed vide memo dated 12.01.2024 to implement the provisions of SWM Rules, 2016.

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Short reply dated 18.01.2024 has also been filed by respondent 2 i.e., Deputy Commissioner, Jalandhar stating that a meeting was held with Commissioner, Municipal Corporation on 08.01.2024 wherein Municipal Commissioner informed that the waste dumped at Choughiti Bypass, Jalandhar has been cleared. A tender for regular lifting of site dumped at site as well as around Choughiti Bypass is being floated by Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar which will be matured within a week. To stop illegal disposal at site, officials of Municipal Corporation have been deployed. After holding a meeting, following directions were issued by Deputy Commissioner, Jalandhar to Commissioner, Municipal Corporation:

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“I. Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar to remove the entire solid waste from Chogitti Chowk site and carry out remediation action using line etc.,

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II. Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar to ensure that no waste is dumped at Chogitti Chowk site in future and to specifically appoint officials to carry out regular monitoring at site.

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III. Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar to provide CCTV Cameras at site to identify violators dumping waste at the site and to take punitive action which may include challaning, imposing of fine and initiation of action as per by laws.

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IV. Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar to take up matter with NHAI for fencing/plantation of the site and to explore possibility of development of public parks at the site.

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V. Municipal Corporation, Jalandharto take all necessary measures for compliance of Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 including remediation of legacy waste and adoption of best practices for Solid Waste Management in the city in time bound manner.”

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PSPCB has filed its reply dated 18.01.2024 stating that a meeting was held by Chairman alongwith Municipal Commissioner and other officials wherein Chairman PSPCB took following decisions:

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“a) The Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar shall not allow the Choughiti by-pass area to be used as a dumping ground for municipal waste as it neither it is a dedicated collection point for municipal waste nor having a scientific arrangement to collect, segregate, treat or shift the municipal waste. It shall stop all such activities and take stern action against anyone whosoever throws Municipal Solid Waste in Choughiti by-pass area with immediate effect and shall arrange alternative arrangements for disposal of Municipal Solid Waste being generated nearby area within 07 days. The Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar shall keep strict vigil to ensure that no Municipal Solid Waste shall be disposed of at or near Choughiti by-pass area. Display boards mentioning prohibition of dumping of waste in the area and hefty penalties to be levied on the violators.

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b) The Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar shall comply with the activities mentioned as per rule 1 to 11 of Solid Waste Management Rules 2016. The Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar shall submit a comprehensive report for point wise compliance (with target dates) of Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 to the Board within 15 days.

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c) The Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar shall form an Environmental management Cell and start in hose review by involving all the concerned officers and submit fortnightly progress w.r.t. compliances of Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 to the Board with copes to the Regional Office/Zonal Office/Chief Office of the Board.

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d) The Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar Department of Local Govt. PMIDC shall submit the balance Environmental Compensation of Rs. 110 lacs earlier imposed, within 15 days.

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e) The progress will be reviewed after one month. It was made clear to the representatives of the Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar that in case no tenable progress is achieved, Board will be constrained to initiate legal proceedings against the Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar and concerned officers under the provisions of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

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f) The proceedings of hearing be forwarded to Principal Secretary, Department of Local Govt. Punjab for his kind information with request to direct the concerned officers of Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar and MD, PMIDC for taking immediate measures to comply with the Municipal Solid Waste Rules 2016.”

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It is also stated that PSPCB has imposed environmental compensation of Rs. 95 lacs for the period of 01.03.2022 to 30.09.2023 on Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar for Rs.95 lakhs for non-compliance of serial no.1 to 10 Rules 22 of SWM Rules, 2016 and further compensation of Rs. 95 lakhs for non-compliance of serial no.11 of Rule 22 of SWM Rules, 2016. Another matter i.e., OA 606/2018 wherein PAN India issue taking State-wise issue relating to Solid Waste Management is under consideration. Tribunal by order dated 10.01.2020 has imposed environmental compensation of Rs.3.90 Croresupon Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar for non-compliance of SWM Rules, 2016. Department of Local Government through Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company has deposited environmental compensation of Rs.90 lakhs and remaining amount of environmental compensation is yet to be recovered.

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Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar submitted its short reply dated 22.01.2024 stating that in the light of observations of Joint Committee Report it has taken following steps.

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*Sr.*	*NGT Observations*	*Action/Response*
*No.*
1.	The dumpsite is	Factual statement
	established in an area
	of about 16.25 acres.
	The officials of MC
	Jalandhar informed us
	that the site has been
	in usefor about the last

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	30 years.
2.	The MCJ has provided 30 dump trucks and 43 trollies to carry the solid waste to the dump site.	Factual statement
3.	At the time of the visit, about 3 trollies and 3 dump trucks had reached the site but none of them were covered.	For MCI owned Tippers and Trollies, tarpaulin was purchased. All waste transportation has been covered. Private tippers and trolleys- Now covered Pictures attached at *Appendix A*
4.	None of the vehicles are compartmentalized. No segregation of waste is being done before sending it to the dump site and no segregation is done at the dump site.	MCJ has received Rs. 43 Cr from Jalandhar Smart City Ltd. For modernization of the SWM machinery. The reason for lack of segregation is twofold: 1.Door to Door Collection is *done* by *informal* *sector* (informal waste- pickers), which has poor infrastructure for waste collection and lacks due motivation. This is being addressed by no. of steps: a.) City wide survey for details of the waste-pickers (9 wards completed) b.) MCJ has issued work order for purchase of 100 e-carts, with segregated compartments for waste collection c.) MCJ has got a project approved (MRF at Pholriwal) from the department, in which such informal ragpickers will be incentivized financially for source segregation
		d.) Anotherproposal is in making

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		for purchase of sufficient no. of DTD collection vehicles for the whole city. 2.Lack of sufficient processing *capacity*(for 450-500TPD waste generated daily) has discouraged citizens for undertaking the source segregation. It is being addressed through comprehensive planning, as mentioned in the point no. 5
5.	No treatment of fresh waste or legacy waste is being carried out. The unsegregated waste received is dumped as such at the site.	*Legacy waste:* Jalandhar Smart City Ltd. has transferred Rs. 37 Cr. Approximately, to MCI for Bio- mining project to treat the legacy waste. Tender has been floated for that and Bids are being technically evaluated and work order will be given soon.
		*Fresh waste:* Following steps are in pipeline for processing the fresh waste, as follows- 1.Wet waste: a.) Bio-methanation plant from 100 TPD of wet waste is in planning stage. MO is in talks with EIL and BPCLto set it up
		b.) Another plant i.e. for Compressed Bio-Gas plant is being set up in Jamsher diary complex which will process 200 TPD of Cow dung and 40 TPD ofMunicipal Wetwaste. Implementation Agreement for this has already been signed.
		c.) MCJ is also in talks with CBG plant set up at Bhogpur, nearby town, for processing another 100 TPD of Municipal wet waste
		d.) A project for 10 TPD Mechanical Composting at Pholriwal has been approved
		e.) Tender has been floated

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		and bids are being technically evaluated for 1.250 TPD mechanical composting machine. 2. *Dry waste :* a.) Waste characterization study has been conducted. According to it, MSW contains more than 60% Multi-Layer plastic b.) So MO has go t a project approved for making construction tiles using MLP (2000 Kg daily) c.) Hopefully, when it succeeds, similar and larger plants could be set up to deal with all of the MLP.
		d.) The informal waste- pickers recover the items which could be sold or recycled, as of now. e.) MCJ has also got sanctioned Rs. 4.5 Cr for construction of Transfer station, which combined with DTDCvehicles will eliminate all Secondary Collection Points in the city. f.) Currently, there are 184 pits at 4 Composting/MRF units. Recently MCJ has procured Shredders, bailers andfatka machine for processing the dry and wet waste in these units.
		g.) MCJ has also contacted Phillaur based plastic recycler for processing of plastic waste.
6.	No weighbridge has been provided at the dump site to ascertain the waste being received at the site	Tender has been floated for setting up weigh-bridge and the bridge will be installed in 1.5 months.
7.	The MCJ officials inform that asper a survey	A separate study is being Commissioned to estimate new

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	carried out in 2019, 8 lacs MT solid waste was present at the dump site and 400-500 MT waste was being received every day at that time. Considering the increase in daily waste generation and accumulation of waste since 2019, the total legacy waste lying at the dump site could be to the tune of 15 lacs MT.	requirement for the additional legacy waste accumulated.
8.	No boundary wall or fencing has been provided around the dump site and as such the waste was found spread outside the dump site onto the road leading to the site.	Tender has been floated for construction of boundary wall
9	The Kala Sanghian drain passes around 400 meters away from the dump site. A lot of waste was found dumped along the bank of Kala Sanghian drain adding to the pollution in the drain.	MCJ has started cleaning it near the waryana site. (pictures attached at *Appendix B) Apart* from this, JSCL has transferred Rs. 43 Cr to Drainage department, for cleaning this drain. Work has started on this project
10	No plantation has been provided around the dump site.	Plantation has been done at the site. Pictures attached at*Appendix* C
11	No buffer zone has been left by MC Jalandhar around the dump site.	Planation has been started to create a buffer zone
12	The piezometers provided earlier for groundwater monitoring were buried under the waste and the sampling of groundwater can’t be done plus groundwater is very polluted	Tender has been floated to install new piezometers

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13.	No arrangement for leachate treatment has been provided and the leachate is partially discharged into the sewer and partially stagnated at the site.	Sump has been created with Non permeable layer to prevent ground water Pollution. Meanwhile long term solution is being explored
14.	No onsite or offsite emergency plan has been prepared.	MCJ is getting it prepared from NIT, Jalandhar
15.	No permanent arrangement for dousing fires has been provided	Fire brigade vehicle has been permanently stationed at the dump site and fire plan is under preparation
16.	There are about 40-50 houses established right next to the dump site which are prone to damage in case of large- scale fires.	Fire brigade vehicle has been permanently stationed at the dump site and fire plan is under preparation
17.	No arrangement is provided for the detection of methane has formation at the site.	Tender has been floated.
18.	No CCTV Cameras have been provided at Wariana Dump.	CCTVs have been installed
19.	The team thereafter visited the affected site at Chogitti Chowk, Jalandhar. During the visit, it was found that the waste was being removed from the site. Police officials were deployed at the site.	At Chougitti location, nearly 250 meters stretch was filled with the waste. As joint team noted, more than 1500 ton waste has been removed from there. (Before and after Pictures are as shown in Appendix D. *Chogitti Dump has been closed* *and the place has been with* *planted with trees.*
20	About 150 trucks i.e., nearly 1500 tons of Solid Waste removed from	Factual statement

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Chogitti Chowk.

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Above replies were considered by Tribunal on 23.01.2024. After noticing response of Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar, Tribunal found that information lacks requisite details and shows merely outlines of steps which are yet to be taken and there is no effective compliance of SWM Rules, 2016. Tribunal also recorded statement of applicant that only 50% work at the dump site has been done and remaining is still pending. Tribunal, directed Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar to file an additional reply to place on record the details substantial work for compliance of SWM Rules, 2016.

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Consequently, an additional reply dated 31.03.2024 has been filed by Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar mentioning details of steps to be taken by formulating an action plan embodying details with budgetary estimates and allocations and timelines for compliance of SWM Rules, 2016. The said steps mentioned in the form of chart are as under:

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Sr. Observations of the Joint Team and updated status of various No. steps undertaken by MCJ to address the issues. 1 1. The dumpsite is established in an area of about 16.25 acres. The officials of MC Jalandhar informed us that the site has been in use for about the last 30 years.

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2. The MCJ has provided 30 dump trucks and 43 trollies to carry the solid waste to the dump site. As per the office report, Dumpsite at Wariana was established approximately 30 years ago and the approximate area of the dumpsite is about 16.25 acres and staff engaged has been provided with 30 dump trucks and 43 trollies (including vehicles of MCJ and Contactors) to carry the solid waste to the said site.

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2 3. At the time of the visit, about 3 trollies and 3 dump trucks had reached the site but none of them were covered. Tarpaulin covers have been provided to all the MCJ owned Tippers and Trolleys. And all the drivers have been directed for the strict compliance of proper covering the vehicles with tarpaulin. All Sanitary Inspectors have been instructed to ensure monitoring &compliance of the said Instructions regarding coverage of tippers and trollies by tarpaulin by the concerned drivers. Pictures attached at Appendix A .

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3 4. None of the vehicles are compartmentalized. No segregation of waste is being done before sending it to the dump site and no segregation is done at the dump site.

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1. There is a budget of Rs. 43 Crore for the modernization of the SWM machinery and out of this budget, tenders have been invited to the tune of Rs. 17 Crore for purchase of machinery. The detail of the Machinery which will be purchased is attached at Appendix E.

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2. The above mentioned tender also include procurement of 25 bins of 4.5 cubic meter and 20 bins of 3.5 cubic meter which has the capacity to transport 90 cubic meter of segregated wet waste and dry waste. Apart from that, other machinery like 14 Tippers having capacity of 10.5 cubic meter, 15 Tippers having a capacity of 5 cubic meter, Backhoe loader and Tractors of 35 HP both are 7 in numbers each, 1 unit of Crawler hydraulic excavator, 9 numbers of Wheel loader machine, 5 numbers of Dumper placer with a capacity of 3.5 cubic meter and 1 number of Crawler Dozer will be purchased.

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3. That there are 30 e-carts, 10 Boleros/Tata ACE, and 100 manual carts with segregated compartments for source segregated collection of waste are already with MCJ.

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4. MCJ has placed work order to a private vendor after completing the tendering process for purchase of another 100 e-carts with segregated compartments for source segregated collection of waste and out of which 10 e-carts have been provided and are in testing phase to ascertain the performance and

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quality of the vehicles. These e-carts have capacity of carrying 310 kg waste. It can travel 80 km in one charge.

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5. It is pertinent to mention that door-to-door collection of the garbage is being done by the unorganized private sector commonly known as Ragpickers in the major part of the city, along with the municipal staff. In order to streamline the work of door-to-door collection and further source segregation, City Livelihood Centre has been registered as a Society (hereinafter referred as CLC) under the Central government scheme known as the National Urban Livelihood Mission. All the ragpickers will be organized as Self-Help Groups (SHGs) under this scheme and CLC as a registered society will provide basic infrastructure like e-carts, PPE kits, insurance, capacity building and all the ragpickers will be a helping hand to the municipal corporation in source segregation of both wet and dry waste. Creating dry waste collection centres for them will enable them to segregate and recover the recyclables better.

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6. As far as the Waste processing plant at Pholriwalis concerned, the detailed project report has been prepared to install the project at the land available within the premises where a Sewage Treatment Plant having a capacity of 200 MLD is already in operation since 2008. The total estimated cost of the Waste Processing Plant is Rs. 9.21 Crore. Under this project, 10 tonne per day of wet waste will be converted to compost using a mechanical drum composter. For the proper processing another unit is also being installed where 2000kg plastic per day will be used for manufacturing tiles by using sand polymer technology. It is brought to the notice of this Hon’ble Tribunal that the residents of the adjoining areas of Pholriwal approached the Hon’ble Punjab & Haryana High Court (CWP 496 Of 2024 as Amit Taneja v/s State of Punjab)” against the installation of the above said project. The above said writ petition is pending for 8^th April 2024for filing of reply on behalf of Municipal Corporation Jalandhar. This project will be executed after the decision of the Hon’ble Punjab & Haryana High Court.

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4 5. No treatment of fresh waste or legacy waste is being carried out. The unsegregated waste received is dumped as such at the site.

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Legacy waste: An amount of Rs. 37 Crore has been reserved for the remediation of the legacy waste at Wariana dumpsite which is approximately 8 Lakh Metric Ton except the waste being generated daily. For the purpose of bioremediation of legacy waste, the work order was allotted to Eco-Garb, a Chennai based company which was terminated due to non-performance on the part of the company in the year March 2023. Since then the tenders have been invited two times for bioremediation and in first attempt, due to technical reasons, it was cancelled. And after the second attempt, the technical documents of the respective bids received have been sent for vetting to State Level Technical Committee for further consideration on 29^th March 2024. And after the technical approval of the State Level Committee, financial bids will be opened.

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Fresh Wet waste:

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A. 100 Ton per day (TPD) waste to Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) and Waste To Gas (WTG) plant based on segregated Municipal Solid Waste (Organic) project has been prepared to the tune of Rs. 27 Crore and tender has been invited for 04/04/2024. This project is based up on a Public Private Partnership mode and will be started at Jamsher Dairy Complex site.

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B. Another Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) Plant having capacity of generating One Megawatt electricity by using 4.8 Ton CBG. The total processing capacity of the plant is 240 Ton per day and out of which 200 Ton cow dung and 40 Ton Wet Segregated Waste will be used under the Public Private Partnership mode at Jamsher Dairy Complex. Cost of this project is Rs. 32.0 Crore. Letter of Award for running the project has been assigned to the agency namely M/s Jageri Bagh Phool Pvt Ltd. Two agreements regarding implementation and Land Lease have been signed between Municipal Corporation Jalandhar and the private vendor. The expected date of commissioning of this project is 31.12.2025.

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C. At Bhogpur Sugar mill, outside the Municipal limit of MC Jalandhar, 70 TPD waste to CBG plant is being installed, which is approximately 30 km away from Jalandhar corporation area. In case any additional requirement of processing the wet waste emerges in future, MCJ has option to sign the agreement for selling the wet waste after completion of establishment of the

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project at Bhogpur.

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D. Regarding the installation of 10 TPD Mechanical Compositing Centre/Facility at Pholriwal has been stated in detail at the above said para no. 3(6)

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E. A pilot project has been prepared for mechanical composting of wet waste within the ward at Basti sheikh having capacity of 2.5 TPD and in case of getting success in this model/pilot project, similar projects will be started in different wards for the purpose of diversity and decentralisation in the Solid waste management. The estimated cost is Rs. 56 lakhs and tender has already been invited for the same.

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F. There are 4Compositing Centres, existing at Village Nangal Shama, Village Birring, Village Dakoha, and Village Pholriwal inside STP Plant, with a total of 184 Pits. And cumulative capacity of all the pits is about 20 TPD of Green Municipal Solid. 4 set of shredders and compost sieving machines have been purchased by MCJ to enhance the efficiency of these centres.

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The total fresh waste processing capacity within Municipal limit, as per the above plan, will be up to 172.5 TPD with additional capacity of 70 TPD at Bhogpur, outside Municipal Limit, if need arises in the future.

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Fresh Dry Waste

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Waste characterization study has been conducted by the authorized personnel. According to it, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) contains a higher percentage of Multi-Layer Plastic (MLP). So, Municipal Corporation Jalandhar has got a pilot project approved for making construction tiles using MLP (2000 Kg daily) at Pholriwal site at the cost of Rs. 1.36 Crore. On its successful completion, similar and larger plants could be set up to deal with MLP across the city. Status of this project has already been submitted in para 3(6) also.

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The informal waste-pickers recover the recyclable materials like PET, HOPE, PP etc. which is approximately 20 tons per day. The draft strategy being followed is integrating the informal waste pickers through Self Help Groups and through City Livelihood Centres. Creating dry waste collection centres for them

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will enable them to segregate and recover the recyclables better.

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Municipal Corporation Jalandhar has also got sanctioned Rs. 4.5 Crore for construction of 100 TPD Transfer station and MRF, which will solve the problem of dry waste generated in the city. Currently, a detailed project report is under preparation stage and tender will be floated after due approval of thegovernment.

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At present there are 4 MRF Units of a total 20 TPD Capacity. To enhance their efficiency, purchase of bailing machines, fatka machines has been carried out. The capacity of these MRF’s are as follows: -

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1. Pholriwal 5 TPD 2. Dakoha 5 TPD 3. MangalShama 5 TPD (Under Litigation) 4. Birring 5 TPD

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Municipal Corporation Jalandhar is also coordinating with Phillaur based plastic recycler M/s Girdhari Lal & Sons for processing of 3 TPD plastic waste.

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The total fresh dry waste processing capacity, as per the above plan will amount to 145 TPD.

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Processing of C&D waste

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A 100 TPD plant has been established at Gadaipur for processing of C&D waste generated in the city. It uses wet process technology to generate 10mm, 20mm, 40mm aggregates and sand. Plant has been set up at site and consent to operate has been applied to PPCB. The material recycled will be used in construction in accordance with IRC code and report obtained from NIT Jalandhar. Plant setup cost with O&M for 5 years is Rs. 3.47 Crore and for infra creation, it is Rs. 2.78 Crore.

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5 6. No weighbridge has been provided at the dump site to ascertain the waste being received at the site.

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Weighbridge has been hired temporarily; outside dumpsite. MCJ owned permanent weighbridge will be installed in near future.

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6 7. The MCJ officials informed that as per a survey carried out in 2019, 8 lacs MT solid waste was present at the dump site and 400-500 MT waste was being received every day at that time. Considering the increase in daily

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waste generation and accumulation of waste since 2019, the total legacy waste lying at the dump site could be to the tune of 15 lacs MT.

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A separate study is being Commissioned to estimate new requirements for the additional legacy waste accumulated. Almost 40% of the total waste i.e., 500 TPD is wet waste which loses water over time reducing its overall volume and weight.

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However, if the study shows a significant increase in the amount of the legacy waste, then the additional requirements would be met by following the due process.

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7 8. No boundary wall or fencing has been provided around the dump site and as such the waste was found spread outside the dump site onto the road leading to the site.

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Estimate of Rs. 70 lacs has been prepared for construction of boundary wall around Waryana dumpsite. Boundary wall will be constructed after following due process. Partial construction has been completed at the backside of the dumpsite and the remaining part of the boundary wall is only possible after the remediation of the legacy waste at the dumpsite at Wariana.

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8 9. The Kala Sanghiandrain passes around 400 meters away from the dump site. A lot of waste was found dumped along the bank of Kala Sanghlan drain adding to the pollution in the drain.

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MCJ has removed the solid waste from the site as far as possible. Remaining cleaning process is covered tinder the scope of the following project as It requires specialized machinery:

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For this, Rs. 34.60 Crore has been allotted to Department of Drainage-cum-Mining and Geology, for cleaning this drain. Work has started on this project. (Pictures attached at Appendix B )

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Scope of this Work Includes:

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Lining with Stone pitching on side wall with earthen base

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Release of water from Bist Doab Canal throughout the year

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Landscape development along side

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Fencing, Lighting, Recreational Activities

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35% of this work has been completed on the ground. The tentative completion time is around June, 2024

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9 10. No plantation has been provided around the dump site. 11. No buffer zone has been left by MC Jalandhar around the dump site. Plantation has been started at the site. Pictures attached at Appendix C. The remaining plantation work is possible after bioremediation of legacy waste and reclamation of this land. Thus, the buffer zone would be created through adequate plantation.

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10 12. The piezometers provided earlier for groundwater monitoring were buried under the waste and the sampling of groundwater can’t be done plus groundwater is very polluted.

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As the previously installed piezometers were buried under the waste at Wariana site and sampling of water cannot be done using them, a minimum of 4 to 5 new piezometers will be installed at the said site.

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11 13. No arrangement for leachate treatment has been provided and the leachate is partially discharged into the sewer and partially stagnated at the site.

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For the installation of ETP for treatment of leachate, correspondences were made with PMIDC, Department of Local Govt., Punjab and it has been suggested by them that as the bio-mining project is under progress and it is not economical to install and ETP for waste which is going to be treated in coming time so, separate drain may be constructed at site to collect the leachate in rainy season and that leachate can be collected and treated at nearest STP site for which directions have been made and the work is under progress.

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12 14. No onsite or offsite emergency plan has been prepared. 15. No permanent arrangement for dousing fires has been provided.

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16. There are about 40-50 houses established right next to the dump site which are prone to damage in case of large-scale fires.

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17. No arrangement is provided for the detection of methane gas formation at the site.

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1. For point no. 14, 15, 16 and 17 MCJ is getting the Offsite Emergency plan prepared from NIT, Jalandhar

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	2. Fire brigade vehicle has been permanently stationed at the dump site and fire plan is under preparation. (Picture attached at Appendix F)
13	18. NO CCTV Cameras have been provided at Wariana _Dump. _
	Cameras at the entry point at Wariana have been installed. Estimates to cover the entire 16.25 acres of the site through CCTV is under preparation and work will be executed in the nearfuture.
14	19. The team thereafter visited the affected site at Chogitti Chowk, Jaiandhar. During the visit, it was found that the waste was being removed from the site. Police officials were deployed at the site. 20. About 150 trucks i.e., nearly 1500 tons of Solid Waste removed from Chogitti Chowk.
	At the above said location, Chogittl, it is humbly submitted that nearly 250 meters stretch was filled with the waste. As the Joint team noted, more than 1500 ton waste had been removed from there by the time of visit of the joint team.
	At present, the site has been cleared and closed for dumping of any kind of waste. Trees had been planted there. Vigil had been maintained with deployment of Police officials and CCTV. Presently the said site is under maintenance and*possession of National Highways* *Authority of India*, which has constructed a footpath there as well.*National Highways Authority of India* has been informed to supervise and manage the site in the future. (Before and after Pictures are as shown in Appendix D)

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A further additional reply dated 07.07.2024 has been filed by Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar giving status report of processing of wet waste, dry waste, construction and demolition waste and legacy waste as under:

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“Processing of Wet Waste:-

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1) Municipal Corporation Jalandhar floated tender for installation of a Bio-CNG Plant in PPP (Public Private Partnership) mode for converting the bio waste into Compressed Natural Gas commonly known as Bio-CNG plant having a capacity of 100 Tonne per day at village Jamsher and the land belongs to Municipal Corporation Jalandhar where CNG plant is proposed to be installed.

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The tender was floated on 13-03-2024 and pre-bid queries were raised by the vendors which were duly replied to by Municipal Corporation Jalandhar and 12^th June 2024 was fixed for opening the technical bids of the tender. On 12^th June 2024, only one bid was received therefore due to technical reasons, the tender was recalled and it will be opened on 8^th July 2024 for technical analysis. After opening and evaluation of the technical bids, financial bids will be opened, and work orders will be issued to the successful bidder subject to the approval of the State Level Technical Committee composed of 3 Chief Engineers.

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The whole process of approval of this tender will be completed by 30-07-2024. The expected date of completion of this project is December 2025 and after that the project plant will be operational. (100 TPD)

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The Municipal Corporation has also prepared a DPR to process 40 Tonne of solid waste per day through a biogas plant at Jamsher Dairy Complex. Final agreement for the purpose of executing the work has been made between Municipal Corporation Jalandhar and the agency M/s Jagheribagh Phool Pvt Ltd. The raw material in the form of cow dung will also be used in this plant for producing Biogas which can be used as a source of energy for cooking. The tentative date of the completion is 31^st December 2025, and it will be fully operational within January 2026. (40 TPD)

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Another Bio-CNG Plant situated in the city of Bhogpur which is approximately 20 km away from the limit of Municipal Corporation Jalandhar is under construction which will be completed in July 2024. After completion of this plant, the Municipal Corporation will make an agreement with the executing agency of the Bio-CNG Plant to process wet waste measuring about 70 Tonne Per Day to 100 Tonne Per Day. (70 TPD).

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2) There is another proposal to process 10 Tonne of Wet Waste per day by using a rotary drum composting technique at Pholriwal for which DPR has been approved and tender could not be floated because the residents of that area filed civil writ petition number 4965 of 2024 titled as “Amit Taneja versus the State of Punjab & Haryana High Court”, pending for reply of the State Government. The Municipal Corporation has submitted its reply in this case. The tenders will be floated approximately around the 15^th of July 2024 and the work order will be issued by 31^st September 2024 after

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taking all the administrative and technical approvals. This plant will be operational from the 31^st of October 2024. (10 TPD)

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3) Presently, there are 189 composting pits and out of which regarding 32 pits situated at Nangal Shama, litigation is pending at Hon’ble High Court for 11^th August 2024 and the Hon’ble Court granted stay against the Municipal Corporation Jalandhar. Therefore 157 composting pits are operational at different locations within the jurisdiction of MC Jalandhar having capacity of processing 20 - 25 Metric Tonne wet waste per day. Apart from this, 5 Metric Tonne wet waste is being given to the private dairy owners to feed the cattle and 5 Metric Tonne per day which is being generated by the Bulk Waste Generators is also being processed through pit composting, organic waste composting machines, and drum composting. Another 10 Metric Tonne wet waste is being processed by Windrow composting at Pholriwal. Corporation Jalandhar is also processing the horticulture waste by way of Windrow composting as well as by pit composting system which is around 1.5 Tonnes per day. (41.5 TPD)

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4) Municipal Corporation Jalandhar has already called the tenders to install 2.5 Tonne Per Day waste to compost converting machines and for that technical bid was opened on 8th June and the financial bid was opened on 12^th June 2024. The comparative statement of the tender has been sent to the chief engineer, Local Government Punjab. And after getting the approval, the work order will be issued shortly. And the waste to compost converting machines will be installed at Vikaspuri Secondary Collection Point on Pathankot Road. It will be operational by 31^st September 2024. (2.5 TPD)

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5) Expression of Interest hereinafter referred as (EOI) for inviting offers/proposals to process all the Bulk Waste Generators within the Municipal limit will be issued by 30^th June 2024. At present, institutions producing 100 kg were covered under the definition of Bulk Waste Generators and now the Corporation Jalandhar is planning to cover the institutions or units producing 20 kg per day under the definition of Bulk Waste Generators and after that the tentative production of Bulk Waste Generators will be 60 Tonne Per Day. The successful empaneled agencies will treat the wet waste of the Bulk Waste Generators. The tentative date to empanel successful agencies is about October 2024. (60 TPD)

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After the completion of all the above said projects, the total processing capacity of the wet waste will be 324 tonnes per day, which will bridge the future gap. It is further submitted that various committees have been formed at the level of the Municipal Corporation Jalandhar to implement the above said projects.

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Processing of Dry waste:-

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6) In order to process the dry waste, to the tune of 10 Tonne Per Day by using baling machine which makes the bales of dry plastic waste after air cleansing through Fatka machines is under installation at Pholriwal, Dakoha, Basti Sheikh, and Vikaspuri which have already been purchased. These bales will be used in the manufacturing tiles and construction of roads. The MRF sheds will be operational by 31st July 2024 after hiring manpower. (10 TPD)

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7) To process the Multilayer plastic, another plant at Pholriwal has been proposed having a capacity of 2 Tonne Per Day where the end product will be used in making tiles. DPR for the same purpose has been approved and the tender will be floated by 15^th July 2024 and it will be operational by 15^th June 2025. On successful completion, more plants can be installed. (2 TPD)

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8) Around 1000 rag pickers are already working in the city who are directly selling the dry waste of about 30 Tonne per day consisting of Plastic, Metal, Glass materials, Cardboards, Papers, etc. All the rag pickers are working in their individual capacities as an informal unorganized sector. The Municipal corporation has already registered a City Livelihood Center (CLC) under the National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) and under this scheme, informal ragpickers will be organized in Self Help Groups who will be provided financial and technical help by which will strengthen the self help groups and that will enhance their capacity to process the dry waste can be enhanced from 30 Tonne to 50 Tonne per day. (50 TPD)

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Processing of Construction and Demolition waste:-

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A plant for processing the Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste having capacity of 100 Tonne Per Day is operational at Gadaipur Industrial Area, Jalandhar where 30 Tonne C&D waste is being processed presently and the processed material will be used in making construction tiles.

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To improve the collection of the C&D Waste, New vehicles like Wheel Loaders (6) and Mini Tippers (6) will be purchased under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) funds. That will enhance the volume of C&D waste from 30 Tonnes to 100 Tonnes per day. (100 TPD)

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Processing of Legacy waste:-

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10) In order to process the legacy waste at Wariana Dump spread over 17 Acres area, tenders were floated. The technical bids received have been sent to the State Level Technical Committee for approval and after the approval, the State Level Technical Committee financial bid will be opened. The project of remediation of

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legacy waste is expected to be started between 15^th August 2024 to 31^st August 2024.”

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Above replies were considered by Tribunal on 10.07.2024 and finding that nothing substantial has been done in the matter and only some promises for future has been made, Tribunal found it a fit case where stringent action was required for non-compliance of SWM Rules, 2016 read with Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (hereinafter referred to as ‘EP Act, 1986’ ). When Tribunal was going to pass appropriate order, Counsel appearing for Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar has also Municipal Commissioner who was present virtually, requested for some further time to place their stand before Tribunal and time was granted.

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An additional reply dated 08.08.2024 has been filed by Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar giving details of further steps taken in matter as under:

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“4. The Municipal Corporation is having 4 pit-composting units at Pholriwal, Birring, Dakoha and Basti Sheikh. The cumulative pitcomposting capacity of these 4 sites has increased from 20 TPD to 32 TPD, after the installation of new shredder machines at these locations (Photographs attached, Annexure A). After the successful campaigning of Awareness program, commonly known as IEC activities, (detailed in Annexure B) among public and ragpickers, resulted in a substantial increase in the level of segregation of waste. Due to this the supply of wet waste to the private dairy owners for the consumption of the cows has increased from 5 TPD to 15 TPD. At the same time, Bulk Waste Generators have been encouraged to undertake in-situ wet waste processing and currently, around 13 TPD wet waste is being processed by the Bulk Waste Generators at their own level. The work of waste processing by BWGs, is likely to increase further with the adoption of the draft Bye-Laws, approved by the House by the Resolution No. 217 dated 24-072024. The public Notice for inviting objections and suggestions to Bye-Laws has been given in different newspapers, (Attached in Annexure C). The capacity of windrow composting at three sites namely as Pholriwal, Burlton Park and backside of Wariana site has been expanded and the comparative analysis of this capacity expansion, as following:

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Wet Waste Processing on previous date of hearing	Pit Composting	Private Diaries	Bulk Waste Generator	Windrow Composting	Horticulture Waste/ home Composting
Total -41 TPD	20 TPD	5 TPD	5 TPD	10 TPD	1.5 TPD
Wet Waste	Pit	Private	Bulk	Windrow	Horticulture
Capacity as of today	Composting	Diaries	Waste Generator	Composting	Waste/ home Composting
Total -125 TPD	32 TPD	15 TPD	13 TPD	59 TPD	6 TPD

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The Horticulture waste of 446 parks in the Jalandhar city, green cover on dividers and that of green belt is currently being managed using in-situ pit-composting, composting cages, windrows. In various parks such as Nehru Park, Urban Estate Phase 2 park, Model town park, horticultural waste is also used for mulching. (Detailed in Annexure D).

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5. Dry waste is another major component of Municipal Solid Waste and the ragpickers working in the informal sector are the key source person for the expansion of processing capacity of dry waste. They are engaged in door-to-door primary collection of Municipal Solid Waste and effectively manage this dry waste. The Rule 15 (b), (c) & (d) provides enabling clause for their integration into Solid Waste Management of the Municipal Corporation.

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As per the National Urban Livelihood Mission- Swachh Bharat Mission Convergence guidelines, Municipal Corporation Jalandhar has established a City Livelihood Centre (CLC), which plays pivotal role in this integration. CLC has been registered as society registered under the Societies Registration Act (XXI) 1860, as amended by the Punjab Amendment Act Lg57. The registration number is DIC/JAL/OL/426 of 2023-24, dated 08/03/2024.

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Municipal Corporation has been able to gather the required data of 835 such informal waste-pickers, provided in Annexure E. With this, the process of issuing them identity cards, masks, gloves and compartmentalization of their carts has been started. Various NGOs have also participated with Municipal Corporation in this project. All these efforts have enhanced Municipal Corporation’s ability to process up to 5O% of dry waste generated.

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6. Construction and Demolition waste is being processed at newly constructed C& D waste processing facility with 100 TPD capacity. The consent to operate this plant has been given by PPCB in June 2024 and Municipal Corporation Jalandhar is presently processing an average 30 TPD, C & D waster daily with the existing infrastructure. 17 sites have been notified as C & D waste collection centres. (Details in Annexure F)

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7. Municipal Corporation Jalandhar is working since long for processing of the wet as well as the dry waste. The brief description of the steps taken by the Municipal Corporation for the source-segregation, processing and eradication of the legacy waste is as follows:

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A. In the year 2012 , Municipal Corporation Jalandhar executed an agreement with M/s JITF Infrastructure Limited for the collection, transportation, processing, and disposal of solid waste generated and the firm was to design, develop, finance, construct, operate, and to maintain the Waste-toenergy plant. The commencement of this work was notified in 2014, but due to different reasons, agreement with the firm, was terminated on 13/O5/2016. This dispute, between both the parties, was referred to the Arbitration Tribunal, and award was passed against the Municipal Corporation Jalandhar to the tune of Rs 192.00 Cr in the year 2022and now the civil litigation is pending at Civil Court, Chandigarh as well as at Punjab & Haryana High Court at Chandigarh.

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B. In the year 2018 the detailed project report, for the construction of 1000 composting pits at 29 locations, was prepared, but due to heavy opposition from the public as well as the elected representatives against the construction of pits, only 5 sites could be finalized out of 29 locations. The total number of pits at 5 sites is 189 with capacity of 35-40 TPD. It is further submitted that at present only 4 sites with 157 pits are operational, as civil writ petition against the pit composting unit in Nangal Shama area was filed at Hon’ble Punjab & Haryana High Court.

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C. In the year 2020 , for remediation of the legacy waste at Wariana site, DPR was prepared and work order was allotted to the M/s Eco Garb Company in June 2021, but due to non performance on the part of the vendor, the contract was terminated after imposition of penalty in March ZOZ3. The photographs of the installed machinery are attached (Annexure G). Again for clearing the legacy waste , Bids were invited for this project amounting Rs 37.61 Cr in May 2023 but because of technical reasons, it was ordered to be recalled on 27.10.2023. Again on 27.11.2023 tender was

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recalled and case was sent to the city level technical committee on 16.03.2024 for technical evaluation and further case was forwarded to state level technical committee on 29.03.2024. and after completing the various steps of approval the state level technical committee has given the final approval on 25.07.2024. The vendor/agency has shifted the mobile remediation plant at Waryana site and which has the capacity to process 1000 TPD legacy waste daily. The work of processing the legacy waste has started.

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D. In the year 2022 , another project, amounting to Rs. 35.46 Cr. based on Cow-dung, poultry waste and wet waste, for production of compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) of 240 TPD at Jamsher diary complex was awarded to M/s JageriBaghPhool Private Ltd. And consequently, Implementation Agreement was signed in 2023 and the land lease Agreement has been executed in the year 2024. At present, negotiation for conditions & rates for cow dung, is under process between the private diary owners, executing agency and Municipal Corporation Jalandhar.

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E. In the year 2023 , another project, amounting to Rs. 9.78 Cr of Mechanical drum composting, having capacity of processing 10 TPD of wet waste and processing of 2 TPD multi-layer plastic for manufacturing of tiles, was prepared and approved by the government in 2024. The process of the inviting bids from private vendors/agencies, was delayed due to enforcement of Model code of conduct from March, 2024 to mid-July,2024 and because of pendency of civil writ petition CWP-4965-2024 at Hon’ble High Court of Punjab & Haryana, against this project. Now the tender has been floated to invite the bids in August 2024.

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F. In the year 2024 , another project, amounting Rs. 27 Cr, for production of bio-CNG by processing 100 TPD wet waste, was approved by Government and bids have been invited for the first time on 14-03-2024 and again, bids were called for the second time on 13-06-2024 and bids were opened on 0907- 2024. And the bids received from two companies are under technical Evaluation.

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G. Municipal Corporation has initiated various steps to implement the provisions of Rule 15 of SWM Rules, 2016, such as framing of Bye-laws, creation of RRR (Reduce, Reuse & Recycle) centres, Integration of informal waste-pickers and establishing a system for decentralized processing of wet and dry waste etc. the steps taken on the part of Municipal Corporations have been described in Annexure H.”

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PSPCB has also filed a reply dated 31.07.2024 stating that for noncompliance of provisions of SWM Rules, 2016, it has taken stringent action and imposed environmental compensation upon respondent 3 i.e., Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar for different period i.e., 01.07.2020 to 31.03.2021, 01.04.2021 to 28.02.2022, 01.03.2022 to 30.09.2023, and 01.10.2023 to 31.03.2024 as under:

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S.No.	Period of violation	Imposition of Environmen for violation of Solid Wa Rules, 2016 upon Munic Jalandhar	tal Compensation ste Management ipal Corporation,
		Non-compliance of Sr. No. 1 to 10 of Rule 22	Non-compliance of Sr. No. 11 of Rule 22
1	01.07.2020 to 31.03.2021	45.00 Lakh	45.00 Lakh
2	01.04.2021 to 28.02.2022	55.00 Lakh	55.00 Lakh
3	01.03.2022 to 30.09.2023	95.00 Lakh	95.00 Lakh
4	01.10.2023 to _31.03.2024 _	30.00 Lakh	30.00 Lakh
	*Total*	225.00 Lakh	225.00 Lakh

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It is said that a total environmental compensation of Rs.4.50Croreshas been imposed upon Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar whereagainst only Rs.90 lakhs has been deposited by Department of Local Government through Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company on 31.12.2022 and amount of rest Rs.3.6 Crores is yet to be realized.

¶273

As already observed by this Tribunal in its order dated 10.07.2024, the legacy waste as per survey of 2019was 8 lakh tonnes. Daily generation was about 500 TPD whereagainst the capacity of processing is

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only 120 TPD leaving a gap of 380 TPD of solid waste which remain unprocessed and continued to add in legacy waste.

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Therefore, by July 2024, roughly an estimated quantity of legacy waste would come to 15 lacs tone. It is a huge quantity and considering small quantity of processing on the part of Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar, it is evident that it will take years together in its clearance and till then the people of area will continue to suffer due to pollution. Environment will also be continued to be degraded. This situation cannot be appreciated and unacceptable. Violation of provisions of SWM Rules, 2016 is an offence under Section 15 of EP Act, 1986. Responsibility and duties of local bodies are duly prescribed in SWM Rules, 2016 and we may find it appropriate to reproduce Rule 15 thereof as under.

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“ 15. Duties and responsibilities of local authorities and village Panchayats of census towns and urban agglomerations. – The local authorities and Panchayats shall, –

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(a) prepare a solid waste management plan as per state policy and strategy on solid waste management within six months from the date of notification of state policy and strategy and submit a copy to respective departments of State Government or Union territory Administration or agency authorised by the State Government or Union territory Administration;

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(b) arrange for door to door collection of segregated solid waste from all households including slums and informal settlements, commercial, institutional and other non residential premises. From multi-storage buildings, large commercial complexes, malls, housing complexes, etc., this may be collected from the entry gate or any other designated location;

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(c) establish a system to recognize organisations of waste pickers or informal waste collectors and promote and establish a system for integration of these authorised waste-pickers and waste collectors to facilitate their participation in solid waste management including door to door collection of waste;

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(d) facilitate formation of Self Help Groups, provide identity cards and thereafter encourage integration in solid waste management including door to door collection of waste;

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(e) frame bye-laws incorporating the provisions of these rules within one year from the date of notification of these rules and ensure timely implementation ;

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(f) prescribe from time to time user fee as deemed appropriate and collect the fee from the waste generators on its own or through authorised agency ;

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(g) direct waste generators not to litter i.e., throw or dispose of any waste such as paper, water bottles, liquor bottles, soft drink canes, tetra packs, fruit peel, wrappers, etc., or burn or burry waste on streets, open public spaces, drains, waste bodies and to segregate the waste at source as prescribed under these rules and hand over the segregated waste to authorised the waste pickers or waste collectors authorised by the local body;

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(h) setup material recovery facilities or secondary storage facilities with sufficient space for sorting of recyclable materials to enable informal or authorised waste pickers and waste collectors to separate recyclables from the waste and provide easy access to waste pickers and recyclers for collection of segregated recyclable waste such as paper, plastic, metal, glass, textile from the source of generation or from material recovery facilities; Bins for storage of bio-degradable wastes shall be painted green, those for storage of recyclable wastes shall be printed white and those for storage of other wastes shall be printed black;

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(i) establish waste deposition centres for domestic hazardous waste and give direction for waste generators to deposit domestic hazardous wastes at this centre for its safe disposal. Such facility shall be established in a city or town in a manner that one centre is set up for the area of twenty square kilometers or part thereof and notify the timings of receiving domestic hazardous waste at such centres;

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(j) ensure safe storage and transportation of the domestic hazardous waste to the hazardous waste disposal facility or as may be directed by the State Pollution Control Board or the Pollution Control Committee;

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(k) direct street sweepers not to burn tree leaves collected from street sweeping and store them separately and handover to the waste collectors or agency authorised by local body;

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(l) provide training on solid waste management to wastepickers and waste collectors;

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(m) collect waste from vegetable, fruit, flower, meat, poultry and fish market on day to day basis and promote setting up of decentralised compost plant or bio-methanation plant at suitable locations in the markets or in the vicinity of markets ensuring hygienic conditions;

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(n) collect separately waste from sweeping of streets, lanes and by-lanes daily, or on alternate days or twice a week depending on the density of population, commercial activity and local situation;

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(o) set up covered secondary storage facility for temporary storage of street sweepings and silt removed from surface drains in cases where direct collection of such waste into transport vehicles is not convenient. Waste so collected shall be collected and disposed of at regular intervals as decided by the local body;

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(p) collect horticulture, parks and garden waste separately and process in the parks and gardens, as far as possible;

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(q) transport segregated bio-degradable waste to the processing facilities like compost plant, bio-methanation plant or any such facility. Preference shall be given for onsite processing of such waste;

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(r) transport non-bio-degradable waste to the respective processing facility or material recovery facilities or secondary storage facility;

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(s) transport construction and demolition waste as per the provisions of the Construction and Demolition Waste management Rules, 2016 ;

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(t) involve communities in waste management and promotion of home composting, bio-gas generation, decentralised processing of waste at community level subject to control of odour and maintenance of hygienic conditions around the facility;

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(u) phase out the use of chemical fertilizer in two years and use compost in all parks, gardens maintained by the local body and wherever possible in other places under its jurisdiction. Incentives may be provided to recycling initiatives by informal waste recycling sector.

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(v) facilitate construction, operation and maintenance of solid waste processing facilities and associated infrastructure on their own or with private sector participation or through any agency for optimum utilisation of various components of solid waste adopting suitable technology including the following technologies and adhering to the

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guidelines issued by the Ministry of Urban Development from time to time and standards prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board. Preference shall be given to decentralised processing to minimize transportation cost and environmental impacts such as–

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a)bio-methanation, microbial composting, vermicomposting, anaerobic digestion or any other appropriate processing for bio-stabilisation of biodegradable wastes;

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b)waste to energy processes including refused derived fuel for combustible fraction of waste or supply as feedstock to solid waste based power plants or cement kilns;

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(w) undertake on their own or through any other agency construction, operation and maintenance of sanitary landfill and associated infrastructure as per Schedule 1 for disposal of residual wastes in a manner prescribed under these rules;

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(x) make adequate provision of funds for capital investments as well as operation and maintenance of solid waste management services in the annual budget ensuring that funds for discretionary functions of the local body have been allocated only after meeting the requirement of necessary funds for solid waste management and other obligatory functions of the local body as per these rules;

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(y) make an application in Form-I for grant of authorization for setting up waste processing, treatment or disposal facility, if the volume of waste is exceeding five metric tones per day including sanitary landfills from the State Pollution Control Board or the Pollution Control Committee, as the case may be;

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(z) submit application for renewal of authorization at least sixty days before the expiry of the validity of authorisation ;

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(za) prepare and submit annual report in Form IV on or before the 30^th April of the succeeding year to the Commissioner or Director, Municipal Administration or designated Officer;

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(zb) the annual report shall then be sent to the Secretary-in-Charge of the State Urban Development Department or village panchayat or rural development department and to the respective State Pollution Control Board or Pollution Control Committee by the 31^st May of every year;

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(zc) educate workers including contract workers and supervisors for door to door collection of segregated waste and transporting the unmixed waste during primary and secondary transportation to processing or disposal facility;

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(zd) ensure that the operator of a facility provides personal protection equipment including uniform, fluorescent jacket, hand gloves, raincoats, appropriate foot wear and masks to all workers handling solid waste and the same are used by the workforce;

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(ze) ensure that provisions for setting up of centers for collection, segregation and storage of segregated wastes, are incorporated in building plan while granting approval of building plan of a group housing society or market complex; and

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(zf) frame bye-laws and prescribe criteria for levying of spot fine for persons who litters or fails to comply with the provisions of these rules and delegate powers to officers or local bodies to levy spot fines as per the bye laws framed; and

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(zg) create public awareness through information, education and communication campaign and educate the waste generators on the following; namely:

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(i) not to litter;

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(ii) minimise generation of waste;

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(iii) reuse the waste to the extent possible;

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(iv) practice segregation of waste into bio–degradable, nonbiodegradable (recyclable and combustible), sanitary waste and domestic hazardous wastes at source;

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(v) practice home composting, vermi-composting, bio-gas generation or community level composting;

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(vi) wrap securely used sanitary waste as and when generated in the pouches provided by the brand owners or a suitable wrapping as prescribed by the local body and place the same in the bin meant for non-biodegradable waste;

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(vii) storage of segregated waste at source in different bins;

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(viii) handover segregated waste to waste pickers, waste collectors, recyclers or waste collection agencies; and

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(ix) pay monthly user fee or charges to waste collectors or local bodies or any other person authorised by the local body for sustainability of solid waste management.

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(zh) stop land filling or dumping of mixed waste soon after the timeline as specified in rule 23 for setting up and operationalisation of sanitary landfill is over;

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(zi) allow only the non-usable, non-recyclable, non-biodegradable, non-combustible and non-reactive inert waste and pre-processing rejects and residues from waste processing facilities to go to sanitary landfil l and the sanitary landfill sites shall meet the specifications as given in Schedule–I, however, every effort shall be made to recycle or reuse the rejects to achieve the desired objective of zero waste going to landfill;

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(zj) investigate and analyse all old open dumpsites and existing operational dumpsites for their potential of bio-mining and bio-remediation and wheresoever feasible, take necessary actions to bio-mine or bio-remediate the sites;

¶331

(zk) in absence of the potential of bio-mining and bioremediation of dumpsite, it shall be scientifically capped as per landfill capping norms to prevent further damage to the environment .”

¶332

Since there is an utter violation of non-compliance of above statutory mandate on the part of Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar, we find that time has arrived when we should take stringent action in the matter to get implement action of the mandatory provisions.

¶333

We accordingly, proceeded to compute environmental compensation by following the principle of ‘Polluter’s Pay’, for the period of 01.04.2024 to 31.07.2024 on the legacy waste of 15 lakh metric ton @ 0.01 Paisa per Kg per day and quantum of compensation comes as under:

¶334

Environmental Compensation:

¶335

1500000000 KG × 180days × Paisa 0.01 = Paisa2700000000

¶336

(Rs.2,70,00,000/-)

¶337

Besides, we also direct initiation of proceeding for imposition of penalty under Section 15 of EP Act, 1986 by MoEF&CC through its Secretary who shall take steps as directed above within one month

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against Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar and submit a Compliance Report within two months.

¶340

Environmental compensation imposed upon Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar shall be paid by it within two month which includes the compensation already determined by PSPCB and in case, the said amount is not deposited as directed above, PSPCB and as ordered hereat by this Tribunal shall take steps for recovery of said amount by taking coercive measures at the earliest.

¶341

Amount of environmental compensation realized from Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar shall be utilized for remediation of environment already damaged due to non-compliance of SWM Rules, 2016, in the area concerned, in accordance with Restoration/Rejuvenation Environment Plan to be prepared by a Joint Committee comprising Deputy Commissioner, Jalandhar, PSPCB and CPCB who shall prepare the plan within one month and execute the same within next three months.

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With the above directions/observations, this Original Application is disposed of.

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Sudhir Agarwal, JM

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Dr. Afroz Ahmad, EM

¶345

August 09, 2024 Original Application No.479/2023 M

¶346

Ramesh Mahendru vs

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