NGT bans dumping of waste near school

A plea alleging that the reckless dumping of garbage and municipal solid waste near a school in East Delhi has been causing health hazard to the children has prompted the National Green Tribunal to restrain authorities from throwing any waste in front of the school.

A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar issued notice to East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) and sought its reply in two weeks on a plea filed by a former scientist.

“In the meanwhile we restrain the EDMC or any other person from throwing municipal solid waste or any other kind of waste in front of the school in question and the corporation should also take all steps to remove the waste that has been dumped in front of the school gate,” the bench also comprising justices M.S. Nambiar and Raghuvendra S. Rathore said.

The tribunal also took exception to unplanned dumping of municipal solid waste and said that school children were suffering due to the mismanagement of the corporation.

The matter is now listed for next hearing on September 23. The green panel was hearing a plea filed by retired scientist C.V. Singh seeking directions to “collect, segregate, dispose and transport” the solid waste of the dump sites as per the provisions of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.