Latest news with #SolidWasteManagementRules2016
Time of India
5 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
Air panel seeks steps to prevent landfill fire in Delhi-NCR
New Delhi: Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Tuesday issued directions to Delhi and other NCR state govts to carry out the proper identification, categorisation, demarcation and fire-risk assessment of all landfill sites and dumpsites in National Capital Region. It also asked them to adopt preventive measures, including the installation of CCTV cameras and methane gas detectors. CAQM asked agencies in NCR to carry out extensive bio-mining or bio-remediation in the landfills or dumpsites to liquidate the legacy waste as per the targeted timelines already submitted to Supreme Court. It also asked them to ensure adequate firefighting arrangements are made at all sanitary landfills and dumpsites. "Ensure adequate storage of sand/chemical fire extinguishing means for immediate action, whenever initiation of fire is sensed, besides dedicated fire tenders and other fire safety measures, specifically during the summer season, which is more prone to SLF and dumpsite fires," said CAQM. The commission also directed the agencies to provide personal protection equipment to all workers at the site and impart training periodically to the workers towards detection and control of fire. CAQM asked agencies to ensure the collection, segregation, transportation and processing of municipal solid waste in accordance with Solid Waste Management Rules 2016. It directed them to conduct regular patrolling by enforcement teams towards the prevention and control of open burning of waste. In a separate direction, CAQM asked for brick kilns located in the districts outside of NCR to co-fire paddy straw-based pellets, setting a deadline of co-firing 50% of such pellets by Nov 1, 2028. The deadline is 20% co-firing of paddy straw-based pellets by Nov 1, 2025, and 30% by Nov 1, 2026. "CAQM has directed Haryana and Punjab govts to mandate the use of paddy straw-based biomass pellets/briquettes in all brick kilns located in the districts beyond NCR, as one of the means towards the elimination of the practice of open paddy stubble burning," the commission stated.
New Indian Express
21-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
MCD to roll back user charges; amnesty scheme for tax dues announced
NEW DELHI: Weeks after forming its government in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the ruling BJP on Tuesday announced two key decisions — withdrawal of user charges for garbage collection and the launch of an amnesty scheme to clear old house tax dues, party leaders said on Tuesday. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva and Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh shared the decisions. 'The previous AAP-led MCD imposed the user charge without public consultation. We have directed officials not to collect any such charge. A private resolution will be moved in the MCD House meeting on Wednesday to formalise this decision,' the mayor said. He added that the amnesty scheme will allow property owners to settle old house tax dues by paying taxes for just the last five years. There will be no penalties or late payment fees. Once dues are cleared, the civic body will issue No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to residents. The mayor further said that, based on suggestions from RWAs and Delhi BJP leadership, no user charges will be levied for 2025–26. The resolution will also aim to prevent similar charges from being imposed in the future. Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said the user fee was introduced arbitrarily by the AAP government under the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, without forming sanitation committees or following proper procedure. Earlier, on April 7, the then AAP-led MCD had stated that a user fee was mandatory under solid waste management bylaws for garbage collection, transport, and disposal. The implementation was said to be in line with SC monitoring.
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
MCD puts waste collection charge on hold after public ire
New Delhi: Following strong public opposition to the waste collection fee, BJP-led Municipal Corporation of Delhi has decided to put it on hold. At a press briefing on Tuesday, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva and mayor Raja Iqbal Singh said that the decision to not collect the charge for the year 2025–26 was taken following a meeting with residents' welfare associations. They alleged that the user surcharge was introduced by AAP govt without proper consultation. "The user surcharge was hurriedly imposed by AAP and the proper procedures and formation of sanitation committees mandated under the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 were not followed. Representatives of various RWAs as well as trade and industrial bodies met us to register their objections, citing lack of procedural compliance and inappropriate surcharge amounts," said Sachdeva. "The Delhi Municipal Corporation Act of 1957 has no provision for such 'user surcharge' so there is a need for making a legal framework before imposing it," the BJP functionary stated further. AAP's Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj, however, said that it was the MCD commissioner who implemented the decision despite their opposition. "Before AAP came to power in the corporation, the policy of levying the user surcharge was already approved by the then BJP-led MCD govt. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Click Here - This Might Save You From Losing Money Expertinspector Click Here Undo However, it was never implemented. When AAP came to power in the corporation, the BJP-supported MCD commissioner forcibly implemented the user surcharge policy," alleged Bharadwaj. While the corporation failed to explain the basis of the user surcharge, even colonies or group housing societies with the 'zero waste colonies' tag by MCD were not spared from this charge which was unfair, Sachdeva said. "Also, there are colonies where the corporation has yet to ensure proper sanitation services, yet the charge was imposed," he added. Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh said that thorough discussions regarding the implementation of the waste collection charge would be held with officials. A committee will be established to determine appropriate methods for implementing these regulations. "In the next property tax bills, MCD will adjust the user surcharge amount already paid by the residents," said Singh. Leader of the opposition and AAP councillor Ankush Narang said that most households were still paying private individuals to lift waste while garbage dumps continued to exist across colonies. "We declared our protest against the arbitrary charge much before BJP got majority. The charge often exceeded the actual tax. If a person's property tax amounted to Rs 2,500, the user surcharge came to nearly Rs 5,000. The commissioner never brought the proposal in the house," he claimed. BJP councillors are scheduled to present a private resolution on this matter in the house on Wednesday. "Nine representatives of RWAs spoke on this issue on Tuesday and none of them were against the charge. But they demanded facilities and logistics in place accordingly. We will frame some structure for levying the charge within the next six months," said Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor. RWA representatives highlighted that this charge was inappropriately combined with property tax, resulting in GST being calculated on the total amount. The majority questioned the fairness of charging only 13 lakh property taxpayers when all households (exceeding 35 lakh) produce daily waste. BS Vohra, of East Delhi RWAs, said that imposing the charge would lead to an additional collection of a mere Rs 150 crore yearly. Saurabh Gandhi, general secretary of United Residents of Delhi, stated that houses in his area constructed in the 1970s were paying property tax up to Rs 3,000. "But due to two shops constructed within the property, the user surcharge can go above Rs 15,000," he added.
The Hindu
29-04-2025
- Science
- The Hindu
A powerful judicial remedy for waste management
India is the biggest plastic polluter in the world, according to a new study published in Nature, releasing 9.3 million tonnes (Mt) annually. This is equivalent to around a fifth of global plastic emission. Plastic emissions, according to this study, are defined as material (which includes both debris and open plastic burning) that has moved from managed or mismanaged systems (in which waste is subject to a form of control, however basic contained state) to the unmanaged system (the environment; uncontained state) with no control. Evidence of an underestimation The report goes on to say that India reports that its dumpsites (uncontrolled land disposal) outnumber sanitary landfills by 10:1 and, despite the claim that there is a national collection coverage of 95%, there is evidence that official statistics do not include rural areas, open burning of uncollected waste or waste recycled by the informal sector. This means that India's official plastic waste generation rate (approximately 0.12 kilograms per capita per day (kg cap−1 day−1) is probably underestimated and waste collection overestimated. According to this study, the plastic waste generation rate for India of 0.54 kg cap−1 day−1. The alarming situation vis-à-vis plastic waste in the Indian Himalayan Region was highlighted in an Opinion page article in this daily, 'Mountains of plastic are choking the Himalayan States' (March 4, 2024). A salient point was the lack of data regarding the quantum and the quality of waste and the capacity to deal with plastic waste in this region. Waste generation data regarding the total solid waste and plastic waste in the country is given in the Central Pollution Control Board's annual reports on implementation of Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 and based on data supplied by State Pollution Control Boards (SPCB) or Pollution Control Committees (PCC). In turn, these are based on data supplied by the municipal bodies in the respective States/Union Territories. There is nothing in any of the reports regarding the methodology adopted by SPCBs or PCCs or municipal bodies or any waste audit which explains how the figures have been arrived at. It is important that the methodology employed by whatever agency that is gathering the data is put out in the public domain and faces third party scrutiny so that the systems we create or propose to create for waste management are commensurate with the quantity and the nature of the waste that needs managing and processing. There is no accounting of waste being generated in rural India it seems, which comes under panchayati raj institutions, and also for a vast stretch of the country which does not come under the jurisdiction of any institutions of local self-governance. The Supreme Court of India has observed that environmental protection is not only a regulatory obligation but also a constitutional imperative aimed at safeguarding the fundamental rights of individuals and preserving ecological balance. There is an urgent need that we have cogent, reliable data about waste generation and its composition in the country. We also need to have data regarding the infrastructure that the country has built over the years to deal with the management and processing of this waste. This infrastructure could be geotagged to help in tracking. Every local government, whether in an urban or in rural area (they are the pivot of waste management as in the legal mandate in the country), has to be mandatorily linked with a material recovery facility (MRF), recyclers of various waste streams, extended producer responsibility (EPR) kiosks and sanitary landfills. To operationalise EPR, all producers, importers, and brand owners (PIBOs) that have a legal obligation collectively can form kiosks across the country to gather waste from all local bodies. These kiosks could be set up depending on the quantum of waste expected, the geography of the area, and ease of access to these kiosks and other relevant factors. This is so that every urban and rural local body in the country has easy access to these kiosks where all waste that is covered under EPR can be deposited. PIBOs can employ people to segregate their waste at such kiosks so that various segments of waste can be taken care of according to the mandate of the law. This is not a simple exercise. But it is not not impossible either if there is a plan. We need to know how much waste is being generated where and how it is being managed. As India is a technology powerhouse, it is time that we leverage this to solve our problems and set an example for the world. Court verdict on tanneries On January 31, a Division Bench of the Supreme Court gave a very heartening verdict in the form of continuing mandamus to ensure that the pollution caused by tanneries in Vellore of Tamil Nadu is reversed by employing necessary remediation programmes. The Court has constituted a committee that needs to report in four months on the compliance of the order. The Court itself has justified the need to ensure compliance. The Bench said, 'violations occur while various Supreme Court directives and environmental norms are flouted, and the schemes or plans framed by the Government remain on paper, failing to achieve any meaningful results. Thus, this Court, being the custodian of fundamental rights, must come to the rescue of the affected individuals/families and ensure that persistent wrongs are rectified and justice is actually done'. It is absolutely imperative that constitutional courts in India adopt this approach and deal with matters of waste management in the same spirit. Justice will only be done in these matters when compliance with orders is ensured in a time-bound manner. Focus on the polluter The Court in the same matter reiterated that 'the polluter pays principle' casts absolute liability on the polluter for the harm caused to the environment and extends not only to compensate the victims of pollution but also the cost of restoring the environmental degradation. Remediation of the damaged environment is part of the process of sustainable development, and such a polluter is liable to pay the cost to the individual sufferers as well as the cost of reversing damaged ecology. The Court has held that when there is a violation in compliance with the environmental laws (be it a result of engaging in activities directly involved in causing pollution or from a failure to take steps to curb pollution and restore the environment or violating any terms of licence granted by any State or central authority and acts detrimental to the environment, the effect of which causes or is likely to cause degradation of the environment), then the deeming fiction of polluting the environment becomes applicable. The polluter is not only liable to payment of compensation but has also to restore the environment. Therefore, while the liability is clear, the process of determining an equitable compensation amount is fraught with challenges, as it must account for both the tangible and intangible damage inflicted on the environment and the affected communities. In this matter the Court applied the Government Pay Principle, and it is for the government to pay compensation to the affected individuals/families and recover the same from the polluters, until the damage caused to the ecology is fully reversed. It is time that the waste management system in the country is also held accountable to millions whose health is impacted by the land, water and air pollution caused by unmanaged and mismanaged waste all across the country. In fact, continuing mandamus could be the way forward to deal with pressing environmental issues to ensure compliance. Archana Vaidya is an environment law consultant and an advocate at the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, at Shimla
The Hindu
28-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
New initiatives to monitor pollution face flak from city residents
The Environment Minister's recent announcement in the Assembly on the remote monitoring of rivers, air pollution, and noise pollution in Chennai has faced criticism from residents and activists, who say it is ineffective and a waste of public funds. One initiative involves deploying a mobile monitoring van equipped with state-of-the-art analysers to immediately respond to disasters like gas leaks, oil spills, fires, and foaming, and to swiftly attend to public complaints, in real-time across Chennai, at an outlay of ₹1 crore. As per the announcement, flying squads – a rapid response force for monitoring, enforcement, and compliance with environmental regulations – are also set to be increased. These squads, operated by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, conduct surprise inspections, prepare daily reports, and coordinate with relevant authorities to address pollution issues. Residents, however, say that existing mechanisms should be strengthened and that there should be greater transparency. K. Raju, a social and environmental activist, said, 'Flying squads come after complaints but they don't take enough samples from the right place at the right time.' Recalling an instance in Manali in 2023, he said, 'After taking samples, they left, but the noxious smell persisted for weeks after. Moreover, there was no report given to the complainant about the incident.' Another initiative – for the first time under the World Bank Project, TN‑SHORE – involves deploying interceptors in the riverine areas and conducting regular waste retrieval and recycling operations. This will be undertaken in Chennai on a pilot scale at a cost of ₹4 crore during 2025‑2026. Charu Govindan of the Voice of People said, 'The problem needs to be tackled at the root, which is source segregation. This is not happening.' Ms. Govindan said that the government machinery needs to enforce the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 properly. 'It is going to be almost a decade, but source segregation is very poor in the city. The government needs to take steps to increase awareness and maybe incentivise residents who do 100% source segregation,' she added. According to Mr. Raju, sewage entering rivers is another major problem. 'As per the Tamil Nadu Combined Development and Building Rules, 2019, there needs to be a buffer zone between the river and developments. But this is not being checked, and in several canals, sewage is being freely let into the river.' Raghupathy Choodamani of the Perambur Neighbourhood Development Forum said that real-time monitoring of environmental issues, if done properly, could be useful, as there are many violators flouting the norms. He pointed out, 'One restaurant in Perambur operates loud machines at night-time, so noise pollution is a factor.' 'Instead of putting more resources into monitoring, the government should spend more on taking action and sustaining the actions,' said Ms. Govindan.
