Green tribunal raps HP govt, says not serious about waste mgmt

Kullu: Observing that there is “no serious concern” shown by the Himachal Pradesh govt in bridging the existing gap in waste generation and its treatment, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered the state to file a progress report on waste management within six months.In a recently issued order NGT chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava observed that there was still a gap of 9.6 million litres per day (MLD) in the estimated sewage generation and treatment in the 60 urban local bodies (ULBs) of the state.The order follows a status report on waste management submitted to the NGT by the Himachal govt on Nov 6.As per the status report, 20 ULBs in the state don’t have sewage management facilities and seven ULBs lack adequate facilities. There are 33 ULBs where the sewage treatment plants (STPs) have an excess capacity of 43.30 MLD.Directing the Himachal govt to clarify this aspect, the NGT observed that “the excess capacity is based on the projected population for the next 15-30 years and is based on the non-connectivity of households. We find such a strategy not only blocks funding, but leaves such facilities unutilised. Contrary to creating excess facilities, the focus should be on covering 20 ULBs where no sewage management facilities exist.”While observing that no timelines have been disclosed for laying sewers and ensuring connectivity in the status report, the Tribunal has directed the state government to clarify it in its next report.The NGT further observed that it did not “find any serious concern by the Himachal govt on compliance of the STP regulations” as the performance data on existing 72 STPs had not been disclosed in the status report.According to the status report, a total 375 tonne per day (TPD) solid waste is generated in the 60 ULBs of the state. However, 378 TPD is processed, leaving a gap of seven TPD. As per the report, the gap of seven TPD exists in the four ULBs of Manali, Karsog, Nurpur and Nirmand.The NGT in its order also raised concern over “slow progress in disposing legacy waste”. The status report mentioned that 3,38,263 tonne of legacy waste had been disposed of but 2,48,381 tonne still remained to be cleared. Out of 16 sites, only six – Bilaspur, Sundarnagar, Sarkaghat, Baijnath, Dalhousie and Rewalsar – have been cleared of legacy waste.It may be mentioned that last year in March, the NGT had pulled up the Himachal govt for failing to bridge the gap between waste generation and treatment in the state and asked it to ring fence Rs 50 crore for waste management.