Order of the National Green Tribunal (Eastern Zone Bench, Kolkata) in the matter of Subrata Debnath Vs State of Tripura & Others dated 28/07/2022.

The Original Application has been filed with the allegation that the Agartala Municipal Corporation has established a dumping ground in the name of a waste processing center, with the object of processing waste materials and garbage of the city of Agartala. It was also alleged that the siting area is wrong as it is very close to the residential area where the applicant resides along with hundreds of other persons and there is a residential premises of the local tribal community, a Government Primary School and open agricultural lands of the locality and the said dumping site is adjacent to the Indian Oil Gas Bottling Plant. Garbage was being burnt in the open causing severe air pollution making it hazardous to the life of the local residents. Smoke, stench and obnoxious odour emanates from the dumping ground located at Debendra Chandra Nagar.

The applicant (Subrata Debnath) said that the Municipal Solid Waste Management and Handling Rules 2000 and other environmental laws as well as Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 have not been complied with.

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The NGT directed the constitution of the joint committee to visit the site and carry out an inspection and submit its report. The committee would examine all issues relating to environmental violations including whether the Siting Criteria and Bio Mining procedure have been adopted and whether segregation of waste has been carried out. The Committee would also report on how much of legacy waste is there at the dump site and how much of it has been processed/bio mined and what steps have been taken by the Agartala Municipal Corporation to dispose of the solid and liquid waste including plastic and e-waste.

The Committee should also assess the Environmental Compensation on account of damage caused to the environment and also suggest remedial measures to rectify the situation, the bench of Justice B. Amit Sthalekar said.